Cetra Muyo OAV
by Kurosu
Summary: AU, Tenchi Muyo fusion. Aeris-centered, mainly AeriSeph. EPISODE 6: Party on the Highwind! The conclusion to the Hojo storyline!
1. Revival of the Legendary SOLDIER

Cetra Muyo OAV **IMPORTANT STUFF:** _Final Fantasy VII_ and _Tenchi Muyo_ do not belong to me. This was inspired from "Aeris Muyo in Tokyo" by Washu Ishida.  
  
I really like the idea, so I'm doing my own version. Some of the characters were given different roles in my story, and I'm following the OAVs instead, hence the title. The majority of FF7 characters will be themselves most of the time--I'm trying to keep them in character, but I apologize if they're not.  
  
  


A _Final Fantasy VII_ & _Tenchi Muyo_ Fusion  
**Cetra Muyo OAV**  
(No Need for a Cetra)  
  
written by [K-chan][1]  


  
  
**Episode One: Revival of the Legendary SOLDIER**  


> It was a lovely, summer day in the town of Kalm as Iflana made her way down the garden path, admiring the nice weather. The elder woman was also searching for someone as her serene eyes darted around her environment. "Aeris?" She stopped and folde her arms across her chest. "Now where did she go?"  
  
Sensing no one out there, she returned to the house to find it strangely quiet. She decided it was best to check in her own room, and when she arrived there, she found her granddaughter curiously looking through the desk drawers. "Aeris! Weren't you supposed to tend the garden?" Aeris whirled around in shock and embarrassment at having been caught.  
  
Iflana smiled and held out a set of keys in her hands. "My dear, were you searching for this?"  
  
"Well," Aeris started, not wanting to lie to her own grandmother, but she was quite curious about the legendary demon that lurked in the sealed cave of their garden. She grew up with the story of how a savage and mentally unstable demon came down from the sky long ago. It could circle around the planet with a single flight. With one chant, it could summon a foreign object from the sky to destroy the whole planet. And the people suffered greatly from its evil power.  
  
She remembered asking her grandmother what happened to the demon then, and the wise woman said following the demon was a great warrior, riding on a magnificent chocobo. The warrior was their ancestor who possessed a staff with tremendous spiritual power. She challenged the demon and eventually defeated it, sealing it away in the cave of the holy garden.  
  
Later that day, Aeris stood outside the huge gates that prevented anyone from entering the holy grounds. She placed the keys she finally got into the lock and pushed her way in. The walk was short as she came upon the cave and gazed at the staff plunged in the ground in front of the the sealed entrance. It was the same weapon from centuries ago that fought the demon, and now it guarded the slumbering demon. She knelt down by it, and cautiously touched it as if it could crumble to pieces due to old age. When she had a firm grasp on its midsection, she noted a row of three jewels--black, white, and red--embedded in the center of the staff.  
  
"Hard to believe you defeated such a powerful being," she smiled.  
  
She wondered if the item was still usable, so with curiosity getting the best of her, she gave the staff a tug, and it came flying out, sending her back to the ground. "Oh wow, that was too easy," she said, standing up and dusting the dirt off her pink dress. Immediately after that, there was a minor tremor, causing the blocked entrance of the cave to drag apart to reveal a dark passage.  
  
Aeris looked amazed and glanced behind her, wondering what she should do now. The cave was pretty far back from the house, and even if the small quake reached that far, her grandmother had left to visit a friend. She turned to the mouth of the cave and giggled, thinking a quick peek would be okay.  
  
She proceeded into the darkness with great caution, holding onto the staff for dear life as if something was going to happen to her. Minutes passed, and she was going deeper into what she thought was a never-ending cave. Soon, it began to slope downwards, and she continued to take each step carefully. Even though it was dark and damp, she didn't feel intimidated by since it reminded her of the one time she went with her grandmother to the slums in Midgar. The two places seemed similiar to her, and she learned not to let the appearance of the slums bother her.  
  
She did find her surroundings rather the chilly. She wrapped her arms around herself, shivering to the coolness. Something dripped onto her nose, and she stopped. She touched her nose and concluded that it was water. She wondered how far into the planet the passage way had taken her. It had been a while since she last saw the light shining at the mouth of the cave. She decided to see how farther in it was and took another step that led her to the end.  
  
She lost her footing to the steep slope and began sliding down the wet surface. She absentmindedly clutched the staff to her chest as she screamed in panick all the way down, feeling the rush of excitement and fear on the ride down to the approaching light source. She finally landed on her bottom in a huge cavern. Getting up, she rubbed her slightly sore bottom and scanned the vast area.  
  
On the opposite wall was a statue protruding out towards her, and she realized that the light was fading away, originating from the red mask worn on the statue's head. She gasped at the scary features. "Is this the demon my ancestor sealed away?" she questioned no one.  
  
She bravely walked up to the statue, noticing the long hair that trailed down from the head. She dropped her armed hand to the side and reached her free one up to the red mask. Her mouth hung open in amazement as her delicate finger traced the features of the demon mask.  
  
Suddenly a hand grasped her wrist, causing her scream, and she tried to pull away as the stone statue began cracking apart. Her eyes widened in fright as her screams became louder and more desperate, but the supposedly petrified demon only pulled her closer, and the other hand touched Aeris's face and caresses her soft skin. Her emerald eyes were focused on the strange, glowing green eyes from the mask.  
  
Her voice left her as she stood there in shock, but the staff in her hand began to glow. A blinding light came between them, forcing the demon away from Aeris. She was quickly released and didn't hesitate to run for the exit--the one she came down from. The path up would've been a challenge, but she was too scared to even bother with the small detail and got away from the place immediately.  
  
Just as she went through the mouth of the cave, the boulders from above began to shake and were about to roll down over the entrance. Aeris was lucky to get out as soon as she did and watched the huge rocks land in a pile, blocking the cave once more. She leaned forward, trying to get her breath and heart rate back to normal. She looked at the weapon in her hand and quickly plunged it into its original spot in front of the cave.  
  
She hurried towards the gate and locked it again, making sure everything appeared untouched. Satisfied, she headed back to the house, promising herself not to let her curiosity dominate.  
  
That night behind the gates, the plants and trees in the area began to glow, emitting a white, eerie light. It gathered into a pillar of luminating energy and shot into the dark, velvet sky.  
  

> 
> **~ * ~ * ~ * ~**  

> 
>   
After that fateful day, everything seemed normal again for Aeris, but even she couldn't forget what happened that summer day in her grandmother's garden. Her mind wandered back to the statue, wondering what the demon looked like--if only she had enough courage at the time to take the mask off. "Hey, Aeris!" someone called.  
  
A hand waved in front of Aeris's face as she slowly snapped out of her reverie. She rested her arms on her school desk and replied dreamily, "Hmm?" She looked at her blonde classmate, "Aah, hi Elena."  
  
The girl crossed her arms and leaned against a neighboring desk. "You're spacier than usual. So how was your summer vacation?"  
  
Aeris shrugged and clasped her hands together with a sweet smile. "Nothing really. I helped my grandmother with her garden and went exploring in the nearby area. It was nice and quiet."  
  
Elena looked bum, "So no cute guys, huh?" Aeris shook her head, giggling. "Yeah, who'd come to this small, sleepy town anyway. It's so boring here. We've gotta get away." Her brunette friend gave a faint nod and turned her attention to the front as the teacher walked into the classroom to starte the second semester of the school year.  
  
Later that afternoon, Aeris was skipping down the lonely road that led her to her isolated home in Kalm. Generation after generation of the Gainsborough family lived in the house with the large garden. It was said that the family had a duty to guard the sealed cave of the demon, so because of that, not many houses were built nearby, leaving it on the lonely hillside.  
  
The walk to and from school was really beautiful, and Aeris loved every minute of it, just strolling beneath the summer foliage. Her skips soon became short sprints, and later she came to a stop when she felt something nearby. She looked around, seeing no one but her on the roadside, until she caught sight of a white bunny. She walked up to it quietly and gently and knelt down to it. She always had a way with plants and animals--it just seemed natural to her. The bunny sniffed her hand, getting familiar with her and her scent. When it seemed to like her, she slowly stroke its spotless fur.  
  
"You're such a cute, little thing," she cooed. "Were you trying to scare me?" Aeris picked up the bunny into her arms and cuddled it. When she stood up and looked ahead of her, she saw a tall, young man standing in her pathway. He was staring at her with his mysterious, green eyes. He wore a strange, black outfit that didn't seem to be worn from around Kalm. She had almost mistakened him as a statue if it wasn't for his long, silver hair that danced behind him in the breeze.  
  
She tucked some strands of brown hair behind her ear as she decided to walk over to him. Her eyes were locked on his, wondering where she had seen the pair before. His expression wasn't welcoming nor menacing, just neutral betraying nothing from his heart nor mind. She wondered how there could be someone who could show nothing like that. She wasn't sure if she should say something to him or just walk by like strangers usually do.  
  
She was a few meters away from him with her feet telling her to walk on by, but her mind told her to speak to him. His lips parted, and he said, "Sephiroth." Her whole body demanded her to stop, and she did, wondering what he meant. "My name is Sephiroth," he said emotionlessly. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, the eerie feeling she felt in the cavern returned to her as she realized why his eyes were so familiar.  
  
"YOU?!!" she shouted, clasping a hand over her mouth. "Yo-you're the demon?!!" Impulsively, she turned the other way and began to run away from the man, who she couldn't figure out why didn't look a thing like a demon. He was very handsome and young at that. Now just how long ago did her ancestor seal him away?  
  
She didn't get too far when the man appeared in front of her. She was so scared, backing away slowly and hoping he wouldn't hurt her. She held the trembling bunny against her chest. He held his hands in front of him and looked at them. "Seven hundred years," he said to no one in particular even if she was there, "I have been sealed there." He looked up at her with those glowing eyes, and she thought he was accusing her of that action.  
  
"It wasn't me!" she said hastily, waving a hand in front of her. "If you're looking for revenge, it's too late. It was my ancestor, Analfi I think, who sealed you away."  
  
He just stared at her and appeared to be considering her words. "Hmm, I didn't think about vengeance, but it is a pleasant suggestion. I shall take you up on that offer." He drew a long blade from his side that she wondered why she didn't notice before. Aeris didn't hesitate to start running for home, hopefully to get help from her grandmother.  
  
Sephiroth watched the girl escape, knowing very well that she couldn't get away from him. It was because of her that he was here now, free from his imprisonment. Then he did something that was unnatural of him. For the first time, he actually smiled, allowing her to get a headstart before he went after her like it was a little game to him.  
  
Aeris was heading towards the hillside, knowing just a little bit closer would be on her family's compound. She tripped and fell forward, allowing the bunny to slip out of her arms. It panicked and hopped away, leaving her to face Sephiroth. She tried to scramble onto her feet but ended up stumbling a few meters away, only to have a sword strike the ground right next to her hand.  
  
She nervously looked over her shoulder and saw Sephiroth staring down at her. She turned around to fully face him, still stumbling backwards on the grassy hillside. "Why me?" she asked in whisper, looking up at him with innocent, pleading eyes, "It's not fair." He placed his hand on the hilt of the sword, leaning down to her, and with his other hand, he touched her face and caressed it with his thumb.  
  
She felt strange at his touch as if he was trying to soothe her, but he was here to kill her. Wasn't he? "Aah, sweet Aeris," he said in a deep, sexy voice.  
  
She kept her gaze on him until her eyes jerked away from and onto the sword that he pulled out from the ground. He held it by his side as if he was going to thrust it into her body. Her hand frantically searched the ground behind her until she felt something long like a stick, but it was too thin and flimsy to clobber him. She sighed inwardly, wondering if he would fall for a really old, stupid trick. "Look over there!!" she blurted out, pointing to a random spot behind him.  
  
Sephiroth blinked at her for a few seconds at her abruptness and then followed her finger. "What is it?" he questioned as he completely turned around, leaving his back to her. He glanced around, not realizing that he had accidently given Aeris the opportunity to escape. He certainly didn't find anything interesting to see. When he turned to Aeris again, the girl was gone.  
  
He stood there silently, replaying the scene in his head, until he felt like an idiot. He had been the greatest SOLDIER in the universe, but somehow his senses allowed a girl--a beautiful girl--to play with his mind.  
  
She kept running until she was up against the gates to the cave and pushed on the gates, hoping it would let her through without the key. Surprisingly, it flew open as if it had never been locked, but she knew the last person to ever enter the place was her, and it was locked when she left it that day. She pushed the puzzlement from her mind and raced towards the staff protruding from the ground. She could feel his strong presence behind her, pursuing her like a helpless prey.  
  
Aeris grabbed the staff and spun around to face Sephiroth, who stood his ground like a great battle was about to take place. For some unexplanable reason, she felt confident, holding the staff in front of her in a defensive position. "This is pointless," she told him. "What will my death do for you? It won't bring back those missing seven hundreds years."  
  
He didn't answer her, only charging in her direction with the sword dragging behind him. When he was more than halfway to her, he leapt into the air with the long blade facing her while she stepped back and raised her staff to block his sword. The two weapons clashed, but a white light--like the one from the cavern--flashed again with a strong force that pushed Sephiroth back. Aeris took this chance to ram the staff into his body, only to hope that he would give up his pointless purpose. It was something about the staff's power that could keep him at bay, and she knew she didn't have to be afraid of him now.  
  
When the light faded away, she gasped at what she had done to him. She pulled the end of the staff from his bleeding shoulder. She didn't mean to hurt him that badly. She was about to reach out to him to offer him aid, but she didn't get a chance when he mumbled something and she saw faint, green light surrounding him. Right before her eyes, his injury was being healed as if it was the most natural events in the world.  
  
Sephiroth was completely healed--except for the blood stain on his outfit--and looked at her with smirk, seeing her awed face. "Very impressive, Aeris," he said, taking a short bow before fading from scene.  
  
"WAIT!" she called, but he was already gone. She sighed, dropping her hands down to her sides. What else was going to go wrong? How did she get into this mess? If only she had listened to her grandmother, then nothing like this would happen. She glanced at the staff and decided she was going to be safe with it by her side, but how was she going to explain it to the old woman who forbidded her beyond the gates.  
  
There was no point standing out there and wait for another attack from him, so she headed towards her home. She was in no rush to face her grandmother, but her alertness was up just in case Sephiroth returned. She certainly couldn't live in paranoia though.  
  
Aeris finally dragged herself home only to find it void of life. Her grandmother must have gone out again, so she would have time to phrase the events and her thoughts in a way that wouldn't get the woman upset and have a heart attack. She went upstairs to her room, swinging her new toy back and forth. She had practiced using the staff a few times under her grandmother's guidance, but that had been for fun. With her situation now, maybe she would teach Aeris a little more to protect herself.  
  
She was just outside her door, preparing to turn the knob, when a dreadful feeling stirred in her stomach. Slowly, she turned the knob and opened the door wide. She froze up as her alert, green eyes surveyed her room. Everything seemed normal and in place like she had left it that morning. She sighed with great relief and entered her room. She closed the door behind her and walked over to the window, throwing the staff onto her bed. She opened the window to let in some fresh air. "I wonder what happened to him. Sephiroth, was it?" she said thoughtfully.  
  
When she turned around, she nearly facefaulted to the floor at seeing the very person who nearly killed her leaning his back against the wall. Sephiroth had his arms folded across his chest, smirking, "Welcome home, Aeris." He left her quite speechless as well as defenseless.  


** TO BE CONTINUED... Episode Two: Here Comes a Prince or Two!**  
  


**~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~**** * ~ * ~**  


  
Heh... thank you for the comments!! If you reread it, I took Washu-san's suggestion into consideration and added that part though it's not as funny 'cause I also wanted to have the characters be themselves too. I hope it's not too bad.  
  
And if anyone can tell me where I can get a good script of _Tenchi Muyo In Love_, then I would be very appreciative 'cause I could then start writing an FF7 version of that since it has all the characters. It would be nice if there was good description too 'cause I'm too lazy to go watch it again. Thanks in advance.  
  
Anyway I would really love criticism on this. You could say this is my first FF fic!! Thanks for your time.  
  
K-chan =^-^=  


   [1]: mailto:hineko@bellsouth.net



	2. Here Comes a Prince or Two

Cetra Muyo OAV **IMPORTANT STUFF:** _Final Fantasy VII_ and _Tenchi Muyo_ do not belong to me. This was inspired from "Aeris Muyo in Tokyo" by Washu Ishida, and that's pretty much the disclaimer stuff.  
  
Even though this is a parody, it's not filled with humor... but hopefully after I get the whole cast together, their interactions will add silliness to the story as they strive for Aeris's affections. Anyway strong language ahead.   
  
  


A _Final Fantasy VII_ & _Tenchi Muyo_ Fusion  
**Cetra Muyo OAV**  
(No Need for a Cetra)  
  
written by [K-chan][1]  


  
  
**Episode Two: Here Comes a Prince or Two!**  


> Somewhere in the bigness of space, an airship--with huge, black letters that read 'PROPERTY OF SHINRA: MOVE OR DIE' on it--was drifting along towards its destination that appeared to be the blue and green planet. On the main deck, a young man with golden blonde hair stood poised and confident, observing the screen before him. Joining him were two large, floating blocks, one marked with a red letter _T_ while the other had a blue _Y_ on the front.  
  
"HEEEEEEY!" came a rather annoying, girly voice belonging to the _Y_ log, "Isn't that the Planet?!"  
  
"Of course, it's a _planet_," the young man scoffed, "What else does it look like?"  
  
The _T_ log laughed in a rough chick's voice, "Ha, Rufus-sama forgot to study this galaxy's planet system!!" Rufus frowned at having been pointed out on his poor knowledge of other galaxies.  
  
"Even I knew," _Y_ added in a way that made it seemed she was rolling her eyes at him. "That planet is called _The Planet_."  
  
"Whatever," he said, practically grumbling. "But this is where my cousin, Analfi, is, right?!" He folded his arms, awaiting a response from his guardians. "Well?"  
  
"Actually," _T_ began, "the computer detected Sephiroth's presence."  
  
"WHAT?! THAT EX-SPACE SOLDIER?!"  
  
"We haven't found Analfi's airship yet," _Y_ said, "but if we tail Sephiroth, he might lead us to her. After all, Analfi was after the guy."  
  
"Wow, Yuffie, you really thought that through!" _T_ remarked sarcastically.  
  
"Oh shut up, Tifa," she snorted.  
  
"BOTH OF YOU SHUT THE HELL UP!!" Rufus demanded, and things quieted down again. He tugged on his white jacket and then smoothed out his hair in peace. "Now, let's just go capture that ex-Space SOLDIER on behalf of our planet!"  
  
There was a long silence until Tifa spoke up again, "There's a slight problem, Rufus-sama. Remember that incident with Cloud-sama?"  
  
He turned to her, "Yeah, what about my little brother?"  
  
"Well, he was a Space SOLDIER and somehow got linked into Sephiroth's conspiracy, so we hacked into the police systems to delete his records," Tifa's voice slowly trailed away.  
  
Yuffie immediately took over, "Deleting Cloud-sama's files went great, but it also erased Sephiroth's records too BY ACCIDENT... since the files were SO CLOSE together."  
  
The pair of logs shrunk back as they noticed the heavy, dark aura around their prince. "You mean to tell me," Rufus started, "that Sephiroth is a free man, and no one will be able to do anything because there's no f**kin' proof of his guilt?!!!" He ended up shouting at the two, "YOU REALLY SCREWED UP!!!"  
  
"Hey, I'm sure we'll find some reason to nab his cute ass," Yuffied tried compromising the royal anger. "But we've gotta find Analfi first."  
  
Rufus calmed down somewhat as he turned his attention back to the screen. "Sephiroth, pray that Analfi is unharmed or else you will face the wrath of Rufus Shinra!!" Then he laughed maniacally while Yuffie and Tifa floated off.  
  
"Well I better hurry and set courses to the Planet," Yuffie volunteered because she didn't want to have a psychotic prince laughing her wooden head to pulp.  
  
"Okay, I'll go find our dear, sweet Cloud-sama," Tifa chirped and went through another door.  
  

> 
> **~ * ~ * ~ * ~**  

> 
>   
"My gosh!" Aeris exclaimed, "How did you get in here?!! WHAT are you doing here?!! Are you still trying to kill me?!!" He stepped towards her, causing her to panick again. She roamed her eyes over to where she last placed the staff. Her small hands aimed for the weapon, but Sephiroth got to her before she could protect herself and pulled her to him.  
  
"Please don't hurt me," she whimpered as he held her back pressed against his muscular body. She felt her heart quickening out of fear and the strange feeling of being up against a guy.  
  
He leaned down clost to her ear and whispered her name in a soothing tone. She practically melted in his arms if it wasn't for a loud voice booming from downstairs, "AERIS SWEETHEART, DADDY'S HOME!" She immediately tensed up at her father's voice. Of all the days, today had to be the day he came home early. She practically turned to stone when she heard the heavy footsteps echoing from down the hallway.  
  
She tried to pry herself from Sephiroth's hold, but he wouldn't let go as if he was oblivious to her predicament when her father caught her with a strange man in her ROOM. She looked up at his neutral face and frowned. "Mr. Sephiroth, will you let me go? My father has quite a temper."  
  
He just gazed down at her with an amused expression, still holding her, and when the door flew open, a large, dark-skinned man stood there and blinked at the pair. Aeris smiled nervously, giving him a little wave, while Sephiroth raised an eyebrow as he glanced at the man and then to the girl in his arms, wondering how the two could be father and daughter.  
  
Puzzlement was written all over Barret's face as he slowly closed the door again, wondering if that was his daughter's room. Certainly it was the right room since Aeris was standing there, but who was that young man?  
  
Aeris angrily jerked away and left a surprised Sephiroth staring after her. She came to a quick stop when her bedroom door opened again, and Barret was glaring at the young man. "Aeris! Who's da boy, and what's he doin' in yer room?!" he demanded.  
  
She held Barret back, preventing him from pounding the guy without any explanation. "It's okay, father. Sephiroth's a... umm, he's new in Kalm, so I was just showing him around--that's all." Barret didn't really bother looking at her to see if she was lying because he knew Aeris wouldn't lie to him, but he was having doubts about the stranger, wondering what part of the Planet was he from.  
  
Barret gave his daughter a quick hug with his glaring eyes plastered on Sephiroth's calm form. "All right then, Aeris," he said, finally looking at her with a softer expression. He turned to leave, mumbling something about hoping it wasn't her boyfriend because he couldn't take the thought of his little girl growing up so fast, "Dammit, I ain't a girl. I don't know 'bout these things. Now where's dat Iflana? She's a woman."  
  
Aeris peeked out of the doorway and watched Barret's form disappear downstairs. Satisfied with that, she closed the door and put her back against it with a sigh of relief. "He was," Sephiroth began, "your father?"  
  
She looked up at him, blinking, "Hmm? Oh yes, but more precisely, my stepfather." Her present situation didn't sink in until he was in front of her again with a hand pressed against the door as he leaned down close to her face. Her rapid heartbeat returned as her body tensed under his mesmerizing gaze. She tore away from his eyes for a brief moment, eying the staff on her bed, but she wouldn't be able to get to it. "What do you want from me?" she asked quietly.  
  
"The materia," he answered.  
  
Her face wrinkled into confusion. "Materia? What's that?"  
  
"On the staff," he said, finding the sight before him pleasant to his eyes.  
  
She glanced at the staff again, recalling the three white jewels, and wondered why he just didn't walk over there and take them. Perhaps he couldn't touch without having some dire consequence that he was afraid of facing, and she was the only who could get them for him. The staff's power was probably drawn from the three materias, so if Sephiroth got his hands on them, it would only add to whatever powers he had right now. He could be a threat to the whole Planet.  
  
"Well, if you give me a good reason why you need them," she bargained.  
  
He withdrew from her and turned towards the window, letting his glistening, silver hair drift after him. His hand clutched the hilt of his sword as if he sensed a disturbing presence. Aeris watched his every movement, curious as ever. "He's coming," he informed her. She held a questioning look and was about to ask, but he faced her like he knew of her question. "The devil is approaching us."  
  
"The devil?" she repeated.  
  
Sephiroth returned to her side, and his hand brushed the loose strands of mahogany hair from her face. "The incarnate of darkness and cruelty that will only taint your innocence."  
  

> 
> **~ * ~ * ~ * ~**  

> 
>   
Back on the SHINRA airship, Rufus was going through hell with his sudden sneezing fit. Yuffie appeared by his side with a box of tissue on top of her block-head. "THE HELL?!" he sneezed again and again and again. Yuffie couldn't help but laugh at his helplessness. Either he was allergic to something or his worse enemy was talking about him again.  
  
Minutes later after going through the whole tissue box, Rufus found his composure. Tifa returned--after having found the second prince sleeping peaceful in his room--just in time to hear Rufus's command, "All right, start firing all over the place!!"  
  
"WHAT?!!" the others panicked. "That's a terrible start on diplomatic relations!" Tifa screamed. "What would the Council and our planet think? Consider your inheritance too."  
  
Rufus groaned, massaging his temples. "Very well. We shall refrain from unnecessary firing. Happy now?"  
  
"We'll be arriving soon," Yuffie informed.  
  

> 
> **~ * ~ * ~ * ~**  

> 
>   
"We could always talk to them," Aeris suggested innocently. "It's better to solve things peacefully." Sephiroth shook his head. "No? Is he that bad?"  
  
"Listen to me, Aeris," he said calmly, grasping her shoulders, "We have to wake up Red-Ohki now."  
  
She looked at him doubtfully, "You make it sound like war."  
  
"It is."  
  
They stood in silence, looking into each other's eyes, with Aeris searching for some trust in his own, but their attention soon turned outside with a male voice booming over them though a speaker, "Sephiroth! I know you're there, so get our ass out here before I blow this planet to dust!" Tifa's voice came immediately after that complaining about Rufus's little speech.  
  
Ignoring Tifa's protests, he turned to Yuffie, who had completely surrendered to the prince's demands, "Give them a damn sample of our power."  
  
"You got it, boss!"  
  
Guns and whatever weapons that usually got installed in a SHINRA airship appeared, but only one huge cannon fired, blasting a hole nearby the Gainsborough house. The ground shook, knocking Aeris off her feet and into Sephiroth's embrace, as the two ended up on the floor. She quickly sat up, blushing and pulling herself from being on top of the young man.  
  
She turned her eyes out the window again, thinking loudly, "You weren't kidding about him. So what are we supposed to do now?"  
  
"Hand me the red materia," he said. Having no other alternative, she complied with his request and took the red jewel from the staff. She held it out to him, but instead of just taking the item, he grabbed her whole hand and held it for a few moments until she pulled her hand back shyly.  
  
"What will that do?" she asked, still holding the staff.  
  
"Just watch." Sephiroth threw the materia out the window, shouting, "Come forth, Red-Ohki!" Aeris watch the materia stirred with power as a red mist surrounded it and soon the red jewel disappeared, but in its place came a giant, red spaceship.  
  

> 
> **~ * ~ * ~ * ~**  

> 
>   
Rufus was about to strangle Tifa if there was a way for his hands to crush her blockiness, or maybe he could just use an axe. He smiled at the thought until Yuffie blurted out, "Oh no! It's Red-Ohki!!"  
  
"WHAT?!" He faced the screen again, and sure enough it was the infamous, red spaceship that only belonged to the one and only Sephiroth. "The criminal battleship! Blast that s**t from the sky!"  
  
The SHINRA airship began to hover over the Gainsborough house as Aeris watched from her bedroom. Instead of awing over Sephiroth's transportation, she panicked over the fact that her house was beginning to glow. "What's going on?! Is he trying to blow up my house?!!"  
  
He grabbed her hand and held onto it tightly. "We have to go."  
  
"But my father!" she tried to tell him as they floated into the air and vanished. The pair reappeared again in an unfamiliar place to Aeris, but Sephiroth felt right at home. "Where are we??"  
  
She didn't get an answer from him, but from another who spoke directly to the young man, "At your command, Sephiroth." She looked around, but no one else besides the two of them were present. The place looked almost empty except for a few technical, out of this planet equipments. She wasn't certain if it was right to assume that she was on the spaceship and the voice that had spoken might belong to the central computer.  
  
"All right, Red-Ohki," he acknowledged, standing behind the ship's main controlling systems. "Rufus sent us a warm greeting. It is only fair to return the kind gesture." Red-Ohki knew of his master's intention and carried out his wish while Aeris's eyes roamed the interior of the ship once more and slowly this time.   
  
She noticed something in the corner and walked over to it for a better look. She gasped, realizing it was her own house, but on a smaller scale. "MY HOUSE?!!"  
  
Sephiroth turned to her. "I apologize for not consulting with you before hand. To lessen your worries, I merely resized it and brought it along for convenience."  
  
His words really didn't ease her at all when she saw Barret unconscious a few meters away. "Father!" she cried, gripping the staff tightly, and rushed to the man's side.  
  
During that time, Red-Ohki was already engaged in an all-out war against the SHINRA airship, blasting all his weapons at the royal vessel. One of the cannon beams hit the side of the airship, knocking Rufus to the floor. Climbing to his feet again, he gritted his teeth and yelled, "FIRE BACK!! DESTROY THAT DAMN S**T!!"  
  
While the two blockheads ran around, carrying out his orders, Yuffie paused thoughtfully and unintentionally asked, "Shouldn't that be 'damn SHIP'?" Rufus whipped his head around at her with deadly blue eyes that told her she better do something destructive before he did it himself but with a NEW target.  
  
The damages to both sides were practically equal, but it appeared that neither ships were going to come out victorious. Aeris was soon by Sephiroth's side, clutching to his arm as tightly as possible so she wouldn't be flung all over the place. She tried to convince him to stop, but he seemed to tune her voice out just like what Rufus was doing to Tifa and Yuffie.  
  
"Both ships could be destroyed if we continue this!" Tifa tried to reason. The dangerous position of his life no longer matter because what hurt the most were not the ships, but Rufus's pride.  
  
"WHAT THE F**K'S GOIN' ON?!!" demanded the new arrival, who looked quite cranky, but that was understandable when one's nap was interrupted by tremors and explosions. The two guardian logs turned to the speaker to find the blonde, young man waiting for an answer.  
  
Rufus was too focused on the present situation than deal with anything else. He ordered the airship to ram into Red-Ohki, and the others panicked. "Cloud-sama!" Tifa cried, "Please stop Rufus-sama or else he'll kill all of us!"  
  
Cloud had long snapped out of his sleepy state and rushed to his older brother's side, punching him in the back. "What the f**k's the matter with you?!!" he yelled. "If you're so suicidal, don't take ME along with you!!"  
  
Rufus just shoved Cloud aside, impatiently waiting for computer to obey his orders. "I'M RUFUS SHINRA, FIRST PRINCE OF SHINRA-SEI!! WHO DARES TO DISOBEY ME??!!!" The airship then began to increase speed, charging right for Red-Ohki.  
  
"This isn't the time to be full of your s**t self," Cloud said calmly. "I'm Cloud Strife, second prince of SHINRA-SEI, and I demand an override of that last command." Nothing happened because he was only second prince--and Rufus's half-brother at that--so he gave it his best shot, and he also realized that it wasn't his ship either. Now everyone was waiting to die at the fault of the older prince's arrogance.  
  
The SHINRA airship plowed into Red-Ohki, and the clump of ships began to fall towards the Planet's surface. During the fall, Rufus appeared on the screen in Red-Ohki, smiling smuggly, while Sephiroth betrayed no emotion. "I'll join you in hell afterwards, Sephiroth," he said, having planned Red-Ohki's position beneath his airship so it would receive greater damage.  
  
Sephiroth seemed a bit mirthful when he saw Cloud, who frowning at his brother's back in the background. "Space SOLDIER's reunion in hell? Very appealing."  
  
Aeris's frowned at Sephiroth and punched his arm angrily. She turned to the screen, shouting at everyone, "What is wrong with all of you?! Risking innocent lives like this!! Not to mention, throwing your own away!!" She could feel the tears forming in her eyes as her hands gripped the staff. "If I had known it would all come to this, I would have never went into that cave!! I'm such a disgrace to the Gainsborough's name. I'm sorry, grandmother, for not obeying you. And father, for lying to you. But most of all..." Her green eyes flared with disappointment and anger, "All of you should also be ashamed of yourselves! Behaving like children!"  
  
"How dare you speak to me like that!! I demand to know your identity!" Rufus shouted.  
  
Unlike his brother, Cloud was studying the girl carefully and noticed the weapon in her hands. "Rufus!" he pulled on his brother's arm, "She has Analfi's staff." Rufus looked at the screen more closely and realized that Cloud was speaking the truth.  
  
"WHERE'S ANALFI?! WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER, SEPHIROTH?!!"  
  
"Sephiroth didn't do anything!" Aeris defended him. "Analfi died a long time ago, after she sealed Sephiroth away."  
  
"NO!! IMPOSSIBLE!" the two brothers exclaimed.  
  
Sephiroth smirked. "Dying is not impossible. You are about to experience it yourselves."  
  
Aeris grabbed his arm and turned him to face her. "This isn't funny, Sephiroth. I know you can do something to save all of us. Please do it." Her pleading, green eyes bore deep into him as she continued, "Please give me a reason not to regret meeting you."  
  
For the second time that day--perhaps ever since his existence--he wore a genuine smile just for her. Then he turned back to Rufus and Cloud with his smile no longer on his face. "Since you went to all the trouble just for me, I will kindly let you land first," he said with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Red-Ohki, let them escort us down."  
  
No one knew what Sephiroth was plannning, but the passengers on board SHINRA airship were having terrible feelings in their stomaches. They suddenly felt their ship tilting and tilting until they felt it was in a different position. From a view in space, Red-Ohki had somehow managed to reverse the two ships' positions until the airship was the one on the bottom, heading right for solid ground.  
  
Rufus's jaw almost dropped to the floor until he snapped out of it and yelled at his enemy, "F**K YOU, SEPHIROTH!!"  
  
"Watch your language, Rufus," he said calmly, "There is a lady present." Aeris's face flushed at Rufus's vocabulary as well as Sephiroth's comment about her.  
  
Rufus wanted to retort, but Cloud beat him to it by beating his brother on the head and then yelling, "FORGET THAT!! IF WE DON'T DO SOMETHING NOW, YOU WON'T GET A CHANCE TO STRANGLE HIM YOURSELF!" Since he put it that way and the ships were getting close to the ground now, Rufus had no choice but to blast the wall of the lower half of the airship, so it could give it a huge boost to slow down their descent.  
  
Everyone except Sephiroth screamed their heads off as the impact approached.  
  

> 
> **~ * ~ * ~ * ~**  

> 
>   

> 
> Once again, it was another lovely day in the town of Kalm with the bright sun out and the birds chirping sweetly. The household of the Gainsborough were in the middle of breakfast as they watched the television report on the strange incident from the day before.  
  
The television report went something like this: the previous evening, a huge object--maybe a meteor--fell from the sky into the ocean not too far from the shores at Kalm Beach. The impact caused a huge tidal wave, flooding the nearby resorts, businesses and homes. It would take weeks to get things back to normal.  
  
Aeris sighed in the middle of her own meal at the last statement, wondering when her life would be back to normal, as she looked at Sephiroth, and then to Cloud, and then to her father, whose eyes were plastered on the television set. He was still admiring the huge damage their 'guests' caused.  
  
"Damn!" he shouted with great admiration, "You boys can sure wreck the place!! And here I thought I'm da best at dat job!" Barret seemed to enjoy their presence now since they have a few things in common just because his job had to do with demolishing unwanted buildings and places. Sometimes he took too far and made it an interesting artform of his.  
  
Aeris was glad about one thing: her father no longer had a problem with boys, not to mention that they were aliens who were now stranded in her home. Thinking about her house, it wasn't situated in its usually spot at the edge of the garden. It was now in the center of the garden, which Aeris didn't mind because she could stare out her window and find pleasant fields of beauty.  
  
"There would've been more damage if our ship didn't cushion the fall," Cloud remarked, pushing the food around with his fork. "We were hurt the most. And now, we don't even have a ship to return home to."  
  
Aeris somehow felt guilty but tried to cheer him up. She placed a hand gently on his shoulder and smiled. "Until we can find away for you to get home, you and Rufus are welcome to stay here as long as you want. Isn't that right, father?"  
  
"Huh?" Barret turned to them, having missed most of her speech. "Yeah, as long as you're happy, Aeris." He looked at the three and scratched his head. "Wasn't there another fella with ya?" Aeris and Cloud shrugged while Sephiroth gestured towards the bay window.  
  
Rufus was out in the yard, trying to piece together of what he was able to salvage from the wreck airship. He was certainly having a miserable time doing it, spending most of the time cursing into the air for his misfortune and Sephiroth's existence.  


** TO BE CONTINUED... Episode Three: Farewell Home, Hello Red-Ohki!**  
  


**~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~**** * ~ * ~**  


  
See, I told ja my casting would be different from Washu-san's version. As you can see, it's changing quite a bit from the original _TM_ episode. And I assure you that the next one will have more changes because Red-Ohki... well, you'll just have to find out.  
  
I can't believe I wrote this all in one day!!! I guess I'm just SO into this!!! I'd like suggestions on future episodes too.  
  
K-chan =^-^=  


   [1]: mailto:hineko@bellsouth.net



	3. Farewell Home, Hello Red-Ohki

Cetra Muyo OAV **IMPORTANT STUFF:** _Final Fantasy VII_ and _Tenchi Muyo_ do not belong to me. This was inspired from "Aeris Muyo in Tokyo" by Washu Ishida, and that's the disclaimer stuff AGAIN.  
  
Oh wow, you guys actually enjoyed all that umm, cursing... ha, well I didn't imagine it to be all that funny, but that's just me. I just let my fingers type away. Okie, well there's STILL strong language ahead and for the rest of the story 'cause Rufus, Cloud, and others will be cursing like crazy.  
  
  


A _Final Fantasy VII_ & _Tenchi Muyo_ Fusion  
**Cetra Muyo OAV**  
(No Need for a Cetra)  
  
written by [K-chan][1]  


  
  
**Episode Three: Farewell Home, Hello Red-Ohki!**  


> Rufus wandered through the garden, somewhat sulking and reminiscing on the memories with Analfi. Just because she had the blood of the Cetras flowing in her body, she was given many responsibilities. And it was one of the responsibilities that was the cause of their separation. It was all because stupid Sephiroth attacked the royal palace, and Analfi went after him.  
  
But there was a precious memory--right before she left him--that he held dear to him. He stopped in his trek and looked around at the various, colorful flower around him until one particular one caught his eyes. He walked over to it and knelt down, remembering that special event when Analfi had given him that same violet flower.  
  
He was too caught up in his memories that he didn't realize light footsteps were heading his way. He finally noticed someone behind him when he saw the shadow looming over him. "Rufus, are you okay?" the gentle voice asked. He stood up to meet Aeris's gaze while holding the flower between his fingers. Holding her hands behind her back, she saw the flower and smiled sweetly, "You like flowers too?"  
  
"Not really," he said dully. "Just that this one reminds me of Analfi."  
  
She covered her mouth with one hand apologetically, "I'm so sorry, Rufus." She revealed the hand behind her back to him, that was holding the staff. She held it out to him. "I should return this to you. It's a valuable keepsake." He accepted the item from her without taking his eyes off the smiling girl. Something about her reminded him of his Analfi, but he couldn't quite understand what it was. Was it her sweet personality? Or her heavenly beauty?  
  
"Tell me," he began, "Is it all a lie? _Her_ death." He stared into her green eyes, searching for some sort of confirmation to the answer he already knew and dreaded. Just the look in her eyes told him everything, and he dragged his eyes to the item in his hands, the Royal Guard--with only the white and black materia in the slots--that was always by Analfi's side. He closed his eyes as if he was in mourning.  
  
"RUFUS!!" the voice boomed in his ears. His eyes snapped open, and he laid in bed, staring at the white ceiling above him. "RUFUS!!" came the rude voice again, followed by banging on the door. "GET YOUR DAMN ASS OUTTA BED!! IT'S MID-MORNIN', AND EVERYONE ELSE'S UP!!" Rufus sat up in bed, throwing the covers aside to reveal himself in nothing but boxer shorts. [SD-K-chan is starry-eyed, drooling at the image.]  
  
He rubbed his temples, easing the gentle throbbing in his head before it became major time bomb and destroy his sanity. Sephiroth was the usual cause to his annoyance and pain, but at that moment, his little brother could be dressed in drags by Tifa and Yuffie for all he cared. "DAMMIT, CLOUD!! I'M UP ALREADY!!" he shouted back.  
  
"At least someone in the royal family know what gratitude is," he heard the younger blonde grumbled, and then footsteps disappeared down the hall. Cloud could be really bothersome, even as a half-brother. He just didn't understand how much Analfi meant to him.  
  
Rufus glanced at the Royal Guard leaning against the wall and then finally decided to get dress and become the proper guest he was to the Gainsborough.  
  
Thirty minutes passed by until Rufus graced the household with his almighty presence in the main room. He stumbled backwards when he saw Sephiroth sitting on the couch, staring blankly at the television screen. Barret was seated on the floor--almost in front of the television--yelling (or maybe cheering) at the two large men pounding each other senseless. Wearing a frilly, pink apron, Cloud walked into the room with a tray of food and set it on the table.  
  
Very bothered by his brother's sudden appearance (in such a girlie thing), Rufus announced his presence loudly, "CLOUD, WHAT THE HELL?!!" He pointed a shaky finger at the puzzled blonde while Barret and Sephiroth tilted their heads to the side so they could see the program on the screen better since Rufus was blocking most of it now. "YO-YOU'RE CROSS-DRESSIN' AGAIN!!" he managed to splutter out.  
  
"DAMMIT, BOY!!" Barret shouted, "STAND SOMEWHERE ELSE AND YELL!! YOU'RE IN DA WAY!!"  
  
Cloud glared at his brother, very hard, and then got up to yank the young man away from the host's view to his own television set. "NOW my brother worries 'bout MY well-bein'," he grumbled, but only got shocking stares from Rufus. He whacked Rufus's head and explained, "I was helping Aeris with breakfast, and she told me to wear this so my clothes wouldn't get ruined."  
  
Rufus finally let out a sigh of relief--the royal family of SHINRA-sei could not have anymore insanity than it already did. Then his attention quickly turned to Sephiroth, who released an amusing snort at the brotherly scene without looking at them. Rufus crossed his arms and sneered at him, "What are you doing farting so early in the day, Sephiroth?"  
  
Cloud facefaulted but quickly recovered from his brother's sudden insult to the once great Space SOLDIER. "You can be SO vulgar," he sighed.  
  
"I was merely expressing my amusement at your foolish assumption," Sephiroth explained without giving him eye contact. "If Cloud had strange preferences, wouldn't I have known when he was under my leadership? But I find him rather likable than the other princes of SHINRA-sei. I don't know..." he looked semi-thoughtful, "they have that family quirkiness. Cloud seems to be spared from that traumatic gene."  
  
Rufus's left eye was twitching now as he glared at Sephiroth, knowing that HE--the first and the only other prince of SHINRA-sei--had been insulted again directly in his face. "WHY YOU..." he started, getting to his feet with clenched fists, "YOU WANNA FIGHT?!!"  
  
Sephiroth stood up, finally looking at the young prince with visible pleasure. Cloud quickly got between them, "Hey, you shouldn't be fighting here. It's not our place to do whatever we want, remember?"  
  
Sephiroth didn't back down at all, but Rufus's thoughts turned to Aeris from the day before, and he glanced around the room and then towards the kitchen. "Where is Lady Aeris?" he asked. No one noticed Sephiroth's eyes had immediately narrowed at Rufus when he had inquired about the girl's whereabouts.  
  
"With her grandmother, I think," Cloud answered, "somewhere in the back garden."  
  
Rufus nodded, suddenly having forgotten about Sephiroth's presence, and sat down at the table with Cloud. Sephiroth sat down too, and the three were about to eat when Barret jumped at the television set, yelling and cursing, "YOU F**KIN' IDIOT!! WHAT KINDA MOVE WAS THAT?!! KICK 'IM!! KICK 'IM AND BREAK HIS DAMN LEGS!!" In his raging anger at the fighter's stupid move, he punched the television out of commission.  
  
The SHINRA princes just gaped at the big man while Sephiroth began to eat peacefully, ignoring the sudden, strange outburst. Barret snapped out of his anger and blinked at the broken equipment. "Aaawe, s**t. Third TV this week, " he groaned, smacking a hand to his forehead.  
  

> 
> **~ * ~ * ~ * ~**  

> 
>   
After a short, in-depth practice with handling the staff more, Iflana and Aeris were now walking down the pathway together as they chatted. The girl was relating what happened a few days ago to her grandmother, who actually took it quite nicely. "I'm REALLY sorry, grandmother, for all this trouble," she said, stopping in her tracks, "but they have no one else to turn to here on the Planet."  
  
The woman continued walking without a word until she stopped and looked back at her granddaughter. She wore a pensive expression and could burst into laughter any moment. "Hmm, so we have three, young men in our house now," she said. She turned around and continued walking, "Come along now, Aeris. We shouldn't keep them waiting."  
  
Aeris blinked for a moment before catching up to the woman. "So these men," her grandmother started again, "One's the demon Sephiroth, and the other two are princes from SHINRA-sei?" The girl only nodded. "I must say, this is very interesting. At least our quiet house will be more lively now!" she laughed.  
  
"Grandmother," Aeris sighed at the woman's unnatural behavior.  
  
During the rest of the way back to the house, Aeris didn't hear the end of the woman's laughter and suggestions of one of the young men being her grandson-in-law. [SD-K-chan blinks.] "Grandmother!" she said a bit firmly.  
  
"Aah, but Aeris, I'm an old woman here. I could just drop dead any day now." Aeris gasped at such bluntness to her own condition, but it was so untrue when her grandmother had always been so healthy. "I'm just eager for you to settle down," she said with a heavy sigh that made Aeris feel guilty. "So I can have a great-grandson to hold and dote on," she laughed while Aeris hung her head low, regretting that she ever felt guilty.  
  
They finally made it to the house, and when they entered the kitchen through the backdoor, Aeris rushed into the main room to find Rufus and Sephiroth in a battle while Cloud and Barret were beneath the table, salvaging whatever was left of the meal. Cloud had long given up on convincing either to stop and focused on his own protection, putting up a small shield around the table. He almost forgot how the fight started until his chopsticks picked at the fish's head.  
  
It was the same piece that Rufus was aiming to get until Sephiroth reached it before he did, and that led to a verbal contest and then escalating to a full-scale, living room war. "The things people do for food," Cloud remarked.  
  
Barret shook his head, "Dis ain't any food. It's Aeris's cookin'. She's a helluva chef!" Cloud thought about that for a moment and realized that the man was right. The food was delicious, and he snickered at how stupid Rufus and Sephiroth were for missing out on it.  
  
"BOTH OF YOU STOP IT RIGHT NOW!!!" Aeris demanded, and the whole scene just stopped as if time itself had stood still. All four pairs of eyes were on her as Iflana appeared behind the girl. Rufus had his shotgun by his side and a hand in the air about to cast a spell while Sephiroth held his Masamune in the air about to execute a technique. The room was in complete shambles with bullet holes all over the place not to mention a bit of frozen and burnt areas because some people had to cast ICE and LIGHTNING spells.  
  
Aeris appeared to be the only one upset at this situation while Iflana examined the damage with great interest. As Cloud and Barret crawled out of their 'hiding' place, she said, "You boys put in quite some power."  
  
"Grandmother!" Aeris called, "You shouldn't encourage them!"  
  
She laughed nervously, noticing the girl's strict glare. "Haha, okay. Well I hope this won't be an every day event." She turned back to the exit and patted Aeris's back. "Good luck with all the cleaning," she said before hurrying off to avoid all house work.  
  
Aeris gaped at the woman fleeing from responsibilities as the owner of the house and then turned to the four men in the living room, glaring at them with her silence. Sephiroth was indifferent while Rufus felt awkward with the silence and Cloud was feeling terrible since he spoiled himself with her cooking instead of stopping them. Aeris's green eyes had scanned the room carefully until it landed on the busted television, and her glare was then focused on her father, who looked away sheepishly.  
  
"The food was great!" Cloud nervously said, hoping to lighten the mood. "I mean, you're an excellent chef, Aeris, if uhh, that makes it any better."  
  
She smiled faintly at Cloud's compliment amidst disaster. "Thank you, Cloud, but that really doesn't get everyone out of cleaning up. You too, father." She eyed the older man, who willingly sucuumbed to the girl's orders because he was somewhat involved and he loved her too much to deny her anything.  
  
Sephiroth smiled inwardly, sheathing the sword away, and walked to Aeris. "While they're cleaning up, let us go somewhere peaceful." He grabbed her wrist and vanished with her before Rufus could shoot the damn SOLDIER for escaping responsibilities--instead the bullet found its target in an antique vase. Rufus cursed the empty air, not knowing that that vase was a precious item left to Aeris from her deceased mother.  
  
"Aah, well we should get started," Cloud said.  
  
Rufus glared at him, "What the hell?! This was Sephiroth's fault!!! He started the whole thing!!" He had enough with Sephiroth and was about to blow a fuse, but Cloud quickly stomped it off by not literally stomping his brother to the ground, but stuffing the older prince's mouth with Aeris's delish fish dish! [SD-K-chan is rolling with laughter.] Rufus did calm down as he dwelled on the wonderful taste until he wondered why he missed out on such great food. That was when the image of a laughing, psychotic Sephiroth holding a Masamune-shish-kabob of fishes appeared in his mind.  
  
Cloud didn't like that look on his brother's face, and Barret was still finishing up the meal as he stood next to Cloud, looking at the other young man. "Say, is dat boy al'ight? Is he mental?"  
  
The blonde shrugged, "You don't know the half of it." He walked to the front door and opened it, calling, "Hey, Tifa! Yuffie! Can ya do me a favor?"  
  
"Aah, Cloud-sama!" Tifa cried happily. "Anything for you!"  
  
"What's up, boss number two?" Yuffie added. "Hey, what was that funny noise in the house? It sounded like you guys were havin' a party."  
  
"Aaawe, Cloud-sama! You didn't invite us!!" Tifa whined.  
  
"Err," Cloud sweated, "that's why I'm inviting you NOW!"  
  
Barret chuckled, "Yeah, after da party's ova."  
  

> 
> **~ * ~ * ~ * ~**  

> 
>   

> 
> Just as Sephiroth and Aeris reappeared by a nearby lakeside, the girl jerked her hand from his grasp. She turned away from him with her arms folded across her chest. "I don't even want to know how it started," she said. "I'm sure you're involved somehow, spurring Rufus on. Why are you two always fighting?" He moved in front of her, so she could look at him. She turned her head to the side and looked at the ground. He moved in that spot, and she looked else where. This continued for the next five minutes until she pouted and closed her eyes.  
  
He raised his eyebrows and smiled. He leaned down close to her face and his lips slowly descending upon hers, placing a gentle kiss that shook her whole body. Her eyes snapped open as he lingered on her lips and caressed her cheek with great care as if she would just suddenly break if he put anymore pressure.  
  
She was too shock to do anything but let her body melt at his touch and most of all his warm kiss that sent all sorts of emotions spinning in her body. And anger was what caused her to retreat without returning the kiss because that kiss was her very first, and of course, she had every right to be upset. She almost shoved him back, surprising him. It was written all over his face.  
  
"Did I do something wrong?" he asked as if he didn't know what it was.  
  
She glared at him with fierce, green eyes. "YES!" she blurted out, "THE KISS!"  
  
"It wasn't to your liking?" he inquired thoughtfully.  
  
"NO!!" She blushed at the answer, quickly adding, "YES!! NO, I MEAN... IT WAS MY FIRST KISS!" She no longer blushed but continued to glare at him.  
  
"Really? I feel special," he smirked, truly meaning every word of it, but somehow it came off as a sarcastic remark.  
  
She frowned and stomped away from him, but he quickly pursued her by air, drifting after her. She glanced to her side, finding him staring at her. She felt her face burning, but she wasn't sure if it was anger or embarrassment. At least he wasn't trying to kill her now. "You're beautiful when you're upset," he noted.  
  
The comment caused her face to become bloody crimson, and she tried to ignore him. She took off running with an entertained Sephiroth after her. She looked back over her shoulder and saw that he was right behind her, but wondered why he didn't speed up to catch her. He was flying through the air which was much faster than her by foot. She concluded that it was another one of his games and was about to slow down when her house came into view. Her foot suddenly slipped, and she fell backwards for the ground.  
  
Sephiroth saw this and flew faster to her aid, catching her falling body into his arms. She looked up at him and blushed, "Th-thank you." She recovered and knelt to the ground where her foot had slipped after feeling something beneath it. She saw something sparkle and found the red materia that she had given Sephiroth a few days ago to summon 'Red-Ohki'. Just as she picked it up, the burning sensation caused her hand to throw it back down. "IT'S HOT!" she yelped, rubbing her heated palm.  
  
Sephiroth checked her injury, seeing a faint burnt mark, and then eyed the red materia, which suddenly started to stir. He stood in front of Aeris as they slowly backed off. The mist of red energy filled the air and continuted to gather into an indefinite form. "What's happening, Sephiroth?" she asked, wondering if the red spaceship was going to appear, but how was that possible when it had also crashed into the ocean that evening. Then it dawned on her that the energy coming out felt dark and cold.  
  
"It's Red-Ohki," he told her.  
  
"But the crash..."  
  
"The red materia is a summoning type," he explained, "and it calls upon Red-Ohki anytime. But when he is released without the power of the staff to tame him, destruction will only lay in his path."  
  
During his explanation, the red energy blazed into a giant, four-legged creature with crackling red-orange eyes. "Oh gosh!" she gasped. "I gave it to Rufus!"  
  
Sephiroth pulled out the Masamune, preparing to battle. "I'll distract him while you get the staff." Aeris nodded and waited until he charge at the flaming creature. Several fireballs blasted at Sephiroth, but the latter easily dodged aside, casting an ICE spell. The demon countered the spell with more fireballs. He lashed his paw of fire at the young man, who blocked the attack with the Masamune.  
  
Aeris ran towards the house, but her movements were quickly picked up by the creature. He shot out a fireball in her direction. Sephiroth was too far away to help her as she screamed in horror. While his attention was on her, he didn't realize the monster's large tail was heading right for him till it was too late. The heavy tail of fire slammed Sephiroth across the fields of flowers.  
  
Sephiroth recovered quickly after he heard the explosion, and his body boiled with such intensity at the thought of Aeris being hurt that he would rip the creature with his own bare hands. He searched for any signs of the girl in her previous spot and much to his relief, he found Cloud standing protectively in front of Aeris with his Ultima Weapon.  
  
"Aeris, are you all right?" the blonde asked.  
  
"Ye-yeah," she answered, somewhat still in shock. "Thank you, Cloud."  
  
"No problem."  
  
Rufus was also near them with Tifa and Yuffie. He commanded the two logs, "Protect Lady Aeris!" After that order, he and Cloud charged into the fight, joining Sephiroth, but Rufus had no intention of helping the ex-Space SOLDIER. He was still a guest to the Gainsboroughs, and having an alien monster loose in their backyard when it was partly his fault was not a good way to treat his hostesses and host.  
  
While the three were occuppied with the creature of fire, Aeris ran into the house with Tifa and Yuffie dutifully trailing behind. "AERIS-SAMAAAAAAAAA!!" they called uselessly after her. The girl ignored their cries as she ran through the semi-clean living room where Barret was about to get rid of the busted television and Iflana was reading a book and finally into Rufus's room. She immediately spotted the staff on top of the bed and grabbed it.  
  
When she returned downstairs with the two logs behind her, Iflana stopped them, "There will be no running in the house, young lady."  
  
"Yes, grandmother," she acknowledged, not bothering to think about why the woman had decree that rule instead of the 'no fighting' one. "Let's go!" she shouted to the logs as she took off running again.  
  
Iflana just shook her head and returned to her book. "Barret, you've spoiled her."  
  
He lifted the broken equipment over one shoulder and looked at the old woman. "A father's love for his li'l girl is unbounded," he said and then stalked off to the front door. All this happened while the loud battle was audiable in the background. Neither questioned it because they assumed the boys were fighting again. A loud, monstrous roar stunned the two occupants of the house. "Dat Rufus boy is sure feisty," Barret commented. Iflana nodded without taking her eyes from the book.  
  
Thanks to the monster outside, the roof was suddenly ripped from the foundation of the house, making a clear view of the afternoon sky. Iflana looked up and frowned. "Barret, call into Kalm and get some repairmen over here now."  
  
"Sure thing," he replied as he left through the front door with the television.  
  

> 
> **~ * ~ * ~ * ~**  

> 
>   
When Aeris reached her friends again, the creatured seemed to have been worn out along with the three, young men. It appeared that the princes didn't have the stamina like Sephiroth did, or the ex-Space SOLDIER was a master at hiding all weaknesses. "Rufus-sama! Cloud-sama!" the logs cried worriedly and rushed to their princes' sides.  
  
The monster turned his attention to an unguarded Aeris, who stood paralyzed beneath his gaze. He was too close to her and would destroy her before any of the others, especially Sephiroth, could get to her in time. The creatured lurched at her as she screamed, holding the staff as her only means of defense. They cried out her name at what they thought was certain doom, but the creatured roared in pain as it smashed against the power of the Royal Guard. The weapon had automatically casted a barrier around its destined user.  
  
Rufus and Cloud stared wide-eyed at the girl, wondering why the Royal Guard had protected her when they knew it could only be used by those of Cetran blood. While the red monster retreated in pain, Sephiroth took his chance and flew in and snatched Aeris safely into his arms. Aeris latched her arms around his neck for fear of falling, but of course, he wouldn't let her fall, and he certainly was enjoying every second of it.  
  
His glowing green eyes scanned the ground below for the spot the red materia had been. When he found the place, he flew down to it and picked up the sparkling object. No longer burning hot, he gave it to Aeris. "With this on the staff, the other materias will draw the dark energy of the red materia back into it." She nodded and did as she was told.  
  
"What now?" she asked when it was in place. The creature had recover from the shock and was now intent on destroying Aeris and everything within its range.  
  
"It's up to you," he told her.  
  
"WHAAAAT?!!" she shook her head. "I don't know what to do. I have no experience with this."  
  
Sephiroth calmed her down, caressing her hand, "It's all right, Aeris. I know you can do it. When we first met in the cavern, I felt your power." His expression softened for only her, which stunned her to silence. "I'll be right beside you."  
  
"You promise?"  
  
"I promise."  
  
"Hey, Tifa," Yuffie called. "Don't ja think their dialogue's way too long? I mean, shouldn't the evil Red-Ohki have attacked by NOW."  
  
"Hmm, yeah."  
  
Cloud looked at the chattering blockheads strangely while Rufus was glaring at Sephiroth holding Aeris's hand. The older prince stood up, yelling at them, "WOULD JA F**KIN' HURRY UP AND GET THIS DONE WITH!!"  
  
The pair looked up as the monster of flames tore down in their directions. Aeris closed her eyes and held the Royal Guard with both hands in front of her. Her body and the staff began to radiate a bright light as the latter slowly floated into the air. Aeris clasped her hands together and prayed that they could stop the evil Red-Ohki.  
  
Of course, her prayers were answered when the white light engulfed Red-Ohki as it roared at that the intense, pure energy rushing through its form. Slowly, the three materias of the Royal Guard absorbed in the negative energy, purifying it. In the end, all that was left was a feline-looking animal lying on the grass.  
  
The staff returned to Aeris's hands as she practically collapsed to the ground wearily, but Sephiroth caught her and held her up. Her eyes were glued on the mysterious red creature on the ground. She finally managed to stand on her own feet and staggered over to the fallen animal. She knelt down next to it, observing the fascinating creature. "Is this," she began, "Red-Ohki?"  
  
"Yes," he said, joining her on the ground, and didn't bother to acknowlege Rufus and the others. He laid a hand on Red-Ohki's side and was inwardly satisfied that his companion was breathing. "He'll be fine."  
  
"Partners in crime," Rufus snorted. "You two always make hell."  
  
"What honor do I have," the creature breathed as he slowly came out of unconsciousness, "to be in the presence of his Highness, Prince Rufus of SHINRA-sei?" His tone was dripped with total sarcasm.  
  
Cloud yanked on Rufus's shirt collar, preventing his brother from starting another war and this time with a giant spaceship while they had none. "Heh, sorry 'bout that," the sensible blonde said. "You put up a pretty good fight with us teamin' against ya."  
  
Red-Ohki straightened his posture and nodded, flinching a bit from some pain received during the battle. Aeris at first was startled and frightened when the creature awoken, but now he seemed so gentle and polite that she couldn't help but brush her hand down his back, soothing his pain. Red-Ohki purred deeply at the girl's nice gesture. He turned his attention to the girl and recalled her being on board the ship.  
  
"Lady Aeris," he acknowledged.  
  
"Aeris is just fine," she giggled at such formality. She stood up as he did. "And welcome to the family, Red-Ohki!"  
  
"AERIS!!" they all heard Iflana called. "WE'RE ALL HEADING TO KALM!! IT'LL TAKE A FEW DAYS--MAYBE WEEKS--FOR THEM TO FIX THE ROOF!!"  
  
"The roof?" everyone said puzzled. Their eyes averted to the top of the house and realized there wasn't one. Aeris gawked at the damage with her left eye twitching while Sephiroth was indifferent. Cloud and Red-Ohki wore guilty looks. Rufus just slapped his hand to his forehead in frustration.  
  
Yuffie laughed, "Aren't ja glad there's still a house at all!!"  


** TO BE CONTINUED... Episode Four: A Hot Spring of Bishounen!**  
  


**~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~**** * ~ * ~**  


  
Aah, that was totally different from the _TM_ episode, ne? Oh that scene where Rufus askin' Sephy-chan 'bout the farting stuff, I got that from episode 8 of _Kodomo no Omocha_--great series! I thought that was pretty funny. Anyway I hope this was decent, especially the fight scene. I'm not good at those when dealing with magic. Sorrie!  
  
The next episode might take awhile 'cause I've gotta find the script. If someone has it, then I would really appreciate it if you send it to me or if you know where to find it, let me know. Thanks!  
  
K-chan =^-^=  


   [1]: mailto:hineko@bellsouth.net



	4. A Hot Spring of Bishounen

Cetra Muyo OAV **IMPORTANT STUFF:** _Final Fantasy VII_ and _Tenchi Muyo_ do not belong to me. This was inspired from "Aeris Muyo in Tokyo" by Washu Ishida, and thank her for having the second chapter to her story out, which made me very happy so I worked on this one all day yesterday!!  
  
  


A _Final Fantasy VII_ & _Tenchi Muyo_ Fusion  
**Cetra Muyo OAV**  
(No Need for a Cetra)  
  
written by [K-chan][1]  


  
  
**Episode Four: A Hot Spring of Bishounen**  


> The day started out in deep space, but all wasn't quiet. Several fleets of the TURKS Police Force were trying to prevent a villain from advancing, but of course their efforts were futile as the oncoming ship of evil disintegrated all the TURKS ship in its path. Bright explosions momentarily decorated the dull space, it was quite a beautiful display, but unfortunately, the police chief of the TURKS Police Force's main branch was not pleased.  
  
Reeve nearly crushed the coffee mug in his grasp as he watched the recorded incident of his force's ships blowing like there was no tomorrow (but how true that was for those on board the exploding ships). Luckily, the image of the TURKS captain on the case appeared. The man filled the chief in with a detail report of the previously watched scene.  
  
"It seems he has headed towards the southeastern quadrant, the isolated region of the universe," he informed.  
  
Reeve placed the mug on his desk as he considered this piece of information with much graveness. He didn't know what the criminal was doing in that part of the universe, but there was no doubt that he had to be stopped before the whole universe would fall into darkness. "All right," he finally spoke, "which TURKS officer is the closest to the criminal's last known location?"  
  
The captain looked through the files, and suddenly his expression fell into a disturbed one. Lifting the coffee mug to his lips, Reeve raised a puzzled eyebrow at the noticeable change. "First Class TURKS Officer Reno," he stated wearily, causing Reeve to spit out the coffee.  
  
"WHAT?!!" he choked out. It wasn't like he had missed the name, but right now he just wanted to bang his head into the wall or drown himself in coffee. "This is insanity!! Reno will not be placed on this case!!"  
  
"But sir, he's the only available officer in that area at the moment."  
  
Reeve leaned over his desk, clutching his head as if he was in pain, but he was actually weeping at the expected damage that Reno always caused. It was that young man's crazy antics that forced the TURKS police deep in their debts. He had to weigh which damage he'd rather have: one of the criminal's or that of Reno's, but all he could think of was how he really needed a vacation.  
  
"Sir, you shouldn't worry," the man said, "I have an idea of how to handle Reno."  
  
Reeve looked up hopefully. "You mean, there's a way to kill a man with no need for consequences?!!" The captain just sweatdropped at the (moronic) assumption and pondered how the man ever became the TURKS's chief of police.  
  

> 
> **~ * ~ * ~ * ~**  

> 
>   
A few thousand light years away from the Planet, a TURKS ship was posted there without any purpose until a message alerted the one-man crew, who was sleeping away at the controls. The screen continued to flash at the incoming message, but the red-head snored away. The captain's face appeared distressed, glaring at the slacked officer. "Reno," he called, but there was no answer. He took a deep breath and shouted, nearly busting out of the screen, "RENOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"  
  
That finally got the young man's attention as he fell out of his seat. Still half asleep, he cursed absentmindedly at his superior, "A guy can't even get a f**kin', decent rest 'round here. Wasn't this s**thole an isolated region? Of all the places those f**cked up morons send me to!" He rubbed his tired eyes and slowly adjusted his vision at the angry face on the monitor. "Hmm? Oh it's you. What the f**k do you want?"  
  
The captain's face was steaming red at the rude greeting and the lack of respect for him (and all superiors since this was Reno after all). Originally, his plan was to have Reno search for the location of the most wanted criminal in the universe and report back to headquarters once he had located him. That would eliminate all damages Reno was usually known for, but now the man had other ideas--like having Reno capture the criminal himself, knowing that the young officer was no match for the ruthless villain.  
  
"AHAHAAHA," he laughed while Reno just glared at him, "there's a perfect assignment for you Reno. You are to capture the notorious, space villain Hojo! No matter what it takes, you are to apprehend that fiend and bring him to justice!"  
  
"That's it?" he questioned tiresomely. It sounded like a pity mission, but it was something to do. He hadn't received a job lately and ALMOST had the urge to march into TURKS headquarters and demand work. "All right, you've got Reno on the job," he accepted and ended the transmission abruptly.  
  
He didn't have any idea of who Hojo was, so he asked, "Hey Rude buddy, what can ya find on this Hojo guy?" Rude--being the ship's good, obedient computer--covered a complete report on the wanted criminal, bringing up all of the man's records as well as a few images. Reno soon lost interest after seeing the freak's appearance and tuned everything else out. He got bored with it all too, so he announced, "Okay whatever, let's just get goin'."  
  

> 
> **~ * ~ * ~ * ~**  

> 
>   
Kalm was such a wonderful town to live in or nearby because lately the weather had been great, and today was not an exception with the cool breeze of autumn. But everyone had taken time off, visiting the hot spring up in Kalm mountains, not too far from the town itself. The place was conveniently operated by Aeris's grandaunt.  
  
When the group arrived, including Iflana and Barret, Aeris's grandaunt welcomed them with open arms. She noticed the extra visitors and gave the girl a puzzled look. "These are my friends," Aeris explained, "They're from 'out of town' and will be staying with us for a while." The old woman nodded and lead them inside with Sephiroth stealthily by Aeris's side, much to Rufus's annoyance. Cloud and Red-Ohki followed them in silence, leaving Tifa and Yuffie to guard the front entrance AGAIN.  
  
The grandaunt took them to the changing rooms and let Iflana and Aeris enter one room while Sephiroth stood watching them. The woman then point to the room where the young men were to change in before enjoying the hot springs. While all the males walked into the room, Sephiroth was still standing in the hallway, staring at the ladies' room. "Let's go, Sephiroth," Cloud sighed, having to come back out and drag Sephiroth after him.  
  
After everyone had washed themselves off and wore nothing but a towel around their waists and Red-Ohki was just the way he was, they entered the bathing area and immersed themselves in the hot water. Rufus kept a suspicious eye on Sephiroth and whispered to his brother, "Keep an eye on him. You never know what he's up to with Lady Aeris bathing nearby."  
  
Cloud just looked at him oddly and then nodded, just to get him off his case and enjoy the relaxing bath. Barret was already in a heavenly state as he snored away at the far end while Sephiroth was staring from one end of the separation panel to the other. Red-Ohki was pleasantly laying by the poolside, resting his eyes. No words were spoken between the conscious four as they heard voices on the other side in deep conversation.  
  
Aeris and Iflana had just come out with the latter commenting on the girl's body. "My, Aeris. You've got quite a figure there. The boys will be after you like bees on honey."  
  
"Grandmother!" She blushed, not realizing there was an audience on the other side since they were OH-SO quiet. As the pair stepped into the water, Aeris glanced down at herself. "Do you really think so?" she whispered, "No guy has really noticed me."  
  
"That's such a shame for them," the older woman laughed. She took Aeris's hand and pointed out, "See, you have really soft skin. It's just perfect." Holding a tress of her brown hair, she added, "The Gainsborough women have the silkiest hair, sparkling like the stars and the fragrance of wild flowers." She continued to point out every part of Aeris's maturing body, having a faint idea that the boys on the other side were listening intently.  
  
Cloud was blushing fiercely while Rufus was considering all those words and picturing Aeris by his side as his lovely fiancee. Even though Sephiroth showed no emotion, he was very interested in the conversation, keeping his green eyes glued on the panel. Red-Ohki folded his ears down so he wouldn't have to endure the discussion.  
  
"And your hips are perfect for child-bearing!" Iflana chirped happily, clasping her hands together as she thought about her future great-grandchildren. Aeris just stared at her uncomfortably. "I'd be so happy if you had a boyfriend! Even that handsome Sephiroth would do."  
  
"Grandmother! Have you gone crazy?!" she exclaimed, still blushing madly.  
  
"What? You don't like Sephiroth?" she eyed her granddaughter. "Rufus is good too, not to mention Cloud. If I was young like you again, I'd go for all three!!" She laughed while Aeris hid her embarrassed face in her hands. The two soon focused their attention on the panel between the separate baths and realized that Sephiroth had sliced it straight down the center with the Masamune. Rufus and Cloud gawked at what happened and were unintentionally staring over at Aeris.  
  
Sephiroth and the Masamune disappeared, and only the former reappeared by Aeris's side. The flushed girl yelped in surprise and sunk her body further into the water as Sephiroth lazily placed his arm on the edge of the pool behind her. Iflana smiled, "Aah, how nice of you boys to join us."  
  
"Sephiroth!" Rufus seethed, absentmindedly standing up with his finger pointed at the ex-Space SOLDIER. "You perverted barbarian, get away from Lady Aeris!!" Aeris let out a loud 'eep' and quickly shut her eyes when the towel around Rufus's waist slipped off, revealing WAY too much. [SD-K-chan's fanning herself: Is it hot in here, or is it just me?!] Realizing his mistake, he dunked himself in the water while Sephiroth smirked. Cloud chuckled at his brother's misfortune while Red-Ohki shook his head.  
  
Sephiroth leaned down towards Aeris and placed a light kiss on her head. He pulled her against his naked body while everyone watched in either amusement, embarrassment, or anger--that's Iflana, Cloud, and Rufus respectively. Rufus quickly casted a LIGHTNING spell at Sephiroth, but the latter avoided it by falling to the side and pulling Aeris with him.  
  
Cloud quickly grabbed his brother's arm before he could send another lightning bolt down. "RUFUS, YOU IDIOT! YOU'RE GONNA HURT AERIS!!"  
  
"LET GO, CLOUD!!" he ordered, "DAMMIT!! I'M TRYIN' TO GET THE BASTARD AWAY FROM LADY AERIS!!"  
  
"YOU'RE DOIN' A F**KIN' GREAT JOB HERE!!" Cloud shouted sarcastically, preventing Rufus from getting any good shots at all... except for the one that somewhat toasted Barret to consciousness.  
  
"HOLY S**T!!" the large man yelled. "WHAT THE HELL?!"  
  
"If you insist on playing," Sephiroth said, still with his arms around Aeris. The girl couldn't care less if she was zapped, she just wanted to keep her naked form from their sights and get away from brushing up against Sephiroth's bare body. "I will be glad to summon a playmate." He somehow managed to open up a space-looking portal, where a three-eyed demon didn't hesitate to fly through, screeching its unbearable voice.  
  
"OH, S**T!!" the two princes exclaimed as they dived to either side from the flying creature and completely soaked themselves in the hot water.  
  
WHAT THE F**K IS DAT?!!" Barret demanded, climbing out of the bath with his hands holding the towel around his waist. Cloud and Rufus were still in the water, scrambling to get out hiding what was left of their 'dignity' while at the same time avoiding the monster's killing path.  
  
The demon didn't hesitate on lashing out at Sephiroth either as he threw up a shield in defense, protecting Aeris too, and that was when he realized he had forgotten a teeny, tiny MINOR detail: he could summon monsters all right, but without the three materias of the Royal Guard nor the weapon itself, he had no control of the rampaging creature.  
  
"Sephiroth!" Aeris screamed as she clung to his arm, forgetting her unclothed state and watching helplessly as the monster was doing a lot of damage to the place and trying to kill her family and friends. "DO SOMETHING!!" She was a bit relieved when Cloud and Rufus found pants to wear and were quickly covering for Barret and Iflana to escape the dangerous scene.  
  
"My dear Aeris," he said calmly, holding up the shield with ease, but it would weaken so if the monster kept up its unpredictable nature, "you don't happen to have brought the staff along, did you?" She blinked at him, getting that dreadful feeling in her stomach, and slowly answered him with a shook of her head.  
  
Somehow Red-Ohki managed to slip a towel to Aeris, and as she wrapped it around herself, she felt Sephiroth's arms around her, pulling her out of the pool, and dragged her away with a crazed monster loose throughout the hot spring resort.  
  

> 
> **~ * ~ * ~ * ~**  

> 
>   
Meanwhile in space just outside the orbit of the Planet, Rude was receiving unusual energy that had recently formed nearby. After pinpointing the exact disturbance, he managed to warn his human partner, "Reno, a subspace pocket has formed in Cluster 2394, Section 548, Block 3."  
  
"Well, what the f**k does that mean??!" the red-head bellowed out, having a short fuse on any space/computer jargon. But how it was too late for Rude to translate the coordinates because the answer came in the form of the TURKS ship suddenly went out of control, being pulled into the vortex right in front of the ship.  
  
"AAWE S**T!! THIS ISN'T MY DAY!!" Reno shouted, trying to focus on getting out of the predicament, but a beeping noise was only trying his patience (if he had any to begin with). "WHAT THE F**K'S THAT DAMN NOISE?!!" he demanded and then took something from his shirt pocket after realizing it was coming from there. He pulled out a small, computer device thingie and smashed it against the navigation controls in hopes of silencing the malfunctioning thing.  
  
"Uhh, Reno?" Rude's voice was being drowned out by all the dreadful cursing in the air. The young TURKS officer just didn't realize the terrible consequence of the ship being sucked from normal space into SUBspace. How unfortunate for them--mostly Rude.  
  

> 
> **~ * ~ * ~ * ~**  

> 
>   
Back at the hot springs, Rufus and Cloud were able to get the monster to chase them back to the poolside, where Sephiroth (in pants too 'cause a frustrated Aeris had insisted), Aeris (with a towel and a Rufus's shirt over that 'cause that was what she could get her hands on at the time), and Red-Ohki awaited them. Red-Ohki threw a fireball at it, only temporarily stunning it, until Sephiroth seized the chance to slash it with the Masamune, but he only managed to slice off one of its appendages, which quickly grew back.  
  
Suddenly the subspace pocket reappeared over the waters, generating a mini-blackhole in the area. A vague form of a ship began to emerge from it, but that wasn't the danger that concerned Sephiroth and the others. Aeris was too close to it, holding onto the towel around her body, and it was too late to get out of the hole's suction. Sephiroth grabbed her arm just before she slipped from his reach. He had no time to worry about the monster as he jabbed the blade of the Masamune into the ground, keeping his grip on Aeris.  
  
Red-Ohki had dug his claws into the earth, holding himself there, while Cloud had held his spot using his Ultima Weapon, keeping his hold on Rufus who was still shooting at the monster with his shotgun. The bullets didn't do much damage to the thing, but the repeated shots did force it closer to the blackhole where it was pulled into, but in place of the dissipating demon, Reno fell out of the hole right above Sephiroth and Aeris.  
  
Right after that, the hole closed, and everything was all right once again... That is until Rufus and the others realized the red-head that fell from the sky had landed on TOP of Aeris! After the young man had fallen on Aeris, her hand was yanked from Sephiroth's grip, and he thought he had lost her forever, but now as he started at the unconscious form of the stranger, he wanted so much to hurt him.  
  
Aeris was struggling beneath the stranger's weight, but she didn't have the heart to shove him off her because he could be seriously hurt from the whole ordeal. From the corner of her green eyes, she saw Rufus, Cloud, and Sephiroth was about to pound whoever the guy was and punt him into space, but she was quite relieved when he slowly stirred.  
  
"S**t, what the f**k happened?!!" Reno growled, still dazed from hitting his head on all parts of the ship after it went into an uncontrollable spin in the subspace. Aeris flinched from his choice of words. Realizing he was on top of someone, he opened his eyes, and his gaze was stuck on the gorgeous brunette beneath him, thinking when in the world did he get to heaven. "Hey," he smiled lazily, shifting his body to the side still slightly on her so he could prop himself on his arm. "The name's Reno. And what's your name, sweetheart?"  
  
Aeris stammered out her name, having not expected his flirting attitude, but the glares from the princes did not slip her vision although Reno was either oblivious of them or he was doing a good job of ignoring the blazing aura behind him. But strangely, she sensed a more hostile energy from Sephiroth, but the silver-haired man expressed nothing in his body gesture except for the VERY tight grasp on the Masamune's hilt as if he would slice and dice Reno into a million pieces.  
  
"Umm, Reno," she began, trying to push him away from her as politely as possible, "could you get off me?"  
  
His smiled just widened unstil Rufus spoke up, hovering over the red-head menacingly like he was some psycho killer after the guy's head. "Yes, Mister Reno, get off Lady Aeris immediately before someone gets HURT," he said stiffly, reinforcing the threat by loading his shotgun. Cloud backed up his brother as he kept his glare on the stranger, sharping his Ultima Weapon until it had a nice gleam. Red-Ohki was standing on the opposite side, ready to pounce and gnaw at the unexpected visitor if he didn't comply.  
  
Reno only looked half amused (while the other half was annoyed from the interruption), but that expression was soon wiped off his face when he fount the tip of the Masamune at his neck. He backed off Aeris as his eyes trailed the end of the blade up to the owner, who was not looking at him kindly. "Hey there, man, I'm off!" he announced, sitting up on the floor with his hands held in the air like he was a criminal.  
  
Aeris stood beside Sephiroth, fumbling with the shirt in order to keep the towel up. Reno's eyes wandered over to her, giving her lusty glance from top to bottom and bottom to top... and it would've continued if Cloud didn't cut in, "Aeris, you should go get changed." She nodded and walked into the building, leaving Sephiroth to block Reno's view.  
  
"State your complete identity and your purpose here," Sephiroth said in a calm, deadly tone. There was a long silence awaiting Reno's answer, but what annoyed the four young men and the red feline was a beeping sound in the background that they seemed to have overlooked before.  
  
"Someone shut the f**kin' thing off!!" Reno demanded, covering his ears, as Sephiroth walked over to the small device emitting the sound. His green eyes narrowed at the item he held because he then knew what Reno exactly was. Sephiroth turned around, throwing the device at Reno, who caught it unwillingly.  
  
"Why is the TURKS police here?"  
  
"YOU'RE from the TURKS police?!!" Rufus questioned in disbelief.  
  
"Yeah, whacha expect?!" Reno snorted, wondering how in hell to shut off the beeping sound. He looked at the object closely and realized the reason it had gone off. "S**t, the Space SOLDIER Red-Ohki's around here!!" He immediately jumped to his feet with the tracking device in one hand and the other one suddenly held a nightstick (that he pulled from... his subspace storage). He slowly followed the given directions until he stood in front of Red-Ohki who rolled his umm, eye.  
  
"That would be me," the creature answered. He held up his paw with really sharp claws and in one swoop, he sliced the nightstick into smaller pieces. Reno's jaw practically fell to the floor while Cloud doubled over in laughter and Rufus and Sephiroth smirked.  
  
Aeris--completely attired in her pink dress--suddenly flew out into the pool area with Iflana right behind her, "GuysWeReallyHaveToLeaveNow!! We'reProhibitedToEverComeBackHereAgainSoLet'sGoBeforeWeCauseAnymoreDamage!!" she said rapidly. Iflana was nodding her head fiercely as both women glanced over their shoulders towards the building, where the grandaunt's loud shrieks were demanding an explanation from Barret about what happened to her hot springs resort.  
  

> 
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> 
>   
Finally the hot springs incident was over, and now everyone was back at the Gainsborough home, but all was not well because Cloud began to have visions. He was standing in front of a large tree when a mysterious airship appeared overhead. He looked around the empty space until he found Aeris kneeling on the ground, tending to her flowers. He smiled and started to walk over to her, but he immediately stopped in his tracks when he saw a cloaked figure from above her, leaping down with a sword aimed right for the helpless girl.  
  
Cloud tried to rush to her aid, but his feet just wouldn't budge from his spot. He kept calling her name, warning her of the danger, but to no avail. "PLEASE SAVE HER!" he pleaded to the only being he knew could do it, "ZAAAAAAAAAAACK!!!"  
  
He woke up from the nightmare, breathing heavily, and wondered what it all meant. He then heard something moving outside and grabbed the Ultima Weapon, going to investigate. He found Red-Ohki outside staring up at the sky and walked up to the beast's side, not breaking the silence that was there because he had a feeling Red-Ohki had also sensed something wrong.  
  
While the two friends were on the ground stargazing, Sephiroth was lying on the rooftop (the area that happened to be over Aeris's room), also staring at the sky with that neutral look of his. And his expression was still indifferent, even when a faint outline of an airship appeared beneath the full moon. He sat up, leaning forward with one arm on his knee, and he smiled mysteriously.  
  

> 
> **~ * ~ * ~ * ~**  

> 
>   
The cloaked figure from Cloud's nightmare was actually standing in Sephiroth's cave, admiring what had been the ex-Space SOLDIER's prison. After jotting down some notes for the natural, dreary decor, he chuckled, teleporting himself from the place to a brighter room fixed with a grand pipe organ. He promptly began playing Sephiroth's theme music from Final Fantasy VII ala the 'Phantom of the Opera' gig.  
  
"AAAHAHAHA, I've got the whole royal family within my grasp!" he mused. "The princes of SHINRA-sei AND the Cetran princess. I must thank you Sephiroth! You've collected the perfect specimens for my experiment!!! BWAAHAHAHAA--HACK!!" He suddenly got thrown into a coughing fit, but right after that, he continued his evil laughter.  
  
As the airship approached the Planet, his sinister laughing and bothersome coughing echoed through the night.  


**TO BE CONTINUED... Episode Five, "Hojo Attacks and Stuff."** (working title)  
**  
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**~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~**** * ~ * ~**  


  
All right!! I like the first half more... I tried to make the last part funny since it was getting TOO serious... Well I hope it was decent. Anyway I really don't have anything planned nor written for the next episode (plus I'm working on other projects too), so it might be another while before it comes out. Ja, thank for the reviews and please do review this episode, okie? Thanksie!!  
  
K-chan =^-^=  
  


   [1]: mailto:hineko@bellsouth.net



	5. Hojo Attacks and Stuff

Cetra Muyo OAV **IMPORTANT STUFF:** _Final Fantasy VII_ and _Tenchi Muyo_ do not belong to me. This was all inspired from "Aeris Muyo in Tokyo" by Washu Ishida!  
  
  


A _Final Fantasy VII_ & _Tenchi Muyo_ Fusion  
**Cetra Muyo OAV**  
(No Need for a Cetra)  
  
written by [K-chan][1]  


  
  
**Episode Five: Hojo Attacks and Stuff**  


> It was one of those cool, autumn days once again in the Kalm area, and soon winter would be upon it. In the meantime, Aeris was out in the garden, working in the vegetable fields since she had to turn half of her flower fields into edible food with the many mouths she had to feed at the house. She didn't mind at all, but she wished they would stop fighting over every little thing. And with their recent guest, Reno managed to piss off Rufus more than Sephiroth ever did, but then again there was always tension in the air whenever those three were in the same room.  
  
She sighed, plopping down on the grass for a break, and was really glad that despite those three and her grandmother, Cloud and Red-Ohki still kept her sane. Speaking of him, Red-Ohki walked up to her and laid down next to her. "Hi, Red-Ohki!" she smiled, stroking his back. "How are you today?"  
  
"Considering that I'm an intelligent, talking creature, who can become a giant spaceship," he said, "just peachy."  
  
Aeris giggled, "_Peachy_?! That really doesn't sound like you!"  
  
"No. After being in a house where the mouths of Rufus and Reno dominate, I have come to appreciate the _gay_ (as in _happy_ ) terms of life." He lifted his head up, scanning his EYE across the fields of sprouting vegetables. "I feel responsible for ruining such beauties, knowing how much you love the flowers."  
  
"It's okay. You guys can't eat flowers, so I don't mind growing veggies instead--it's good to have change. Besides you and the others are more important than flowers."  
  
"If only THEY felt the same way about you," Red-Ohki mumbled, thinking how everyone else had been taking advantage of the girl's kindness, as he dropped his head back on his paws wearily. Aeris raised a curious eyebrow at him, having not understood, but she didn't ask when he had already closed his eye to rest, so she didn't bother him and returned to work.  
  

> 
> **~ * ~ * ~ * ~**  

> 
>   
Meanwhile Sephiroth was relaxing in the hot springs that happened to be at the site of his imprisonment. To make the story short on how the springs came to be, let's just say an unnamed ex-Space SOLDIER purposely took the seat of another unnamed eldest prince that lead to throwing huge fireballs around the backyard. To add to the fire, another no name red-head took this opportunity to find out what bra size the young hostess wore, and well that didn't turn out to wonderful for him when the others found out.  
  
Sephiroth and Rufus had Red-Ohki change into the spaceship and execute the TURKS officer on the spot, but Aeris intervened, and the blast took out most of Sephiroth's cave. After that, Cloud had the idea of turning it into their personal hot spa, which was much relief for Reno when the subject was on something else instead of his umm, naughty stuff. But then as punishment, Reno was forced to labor on Rufus's designs on the hot springs for a month while Sephiroth supervised with whip in hand (in what could possibly be considered a VERY tamed verion of a yaoi S&M). [SD-K-chan sweatdrops.]  
  
When Aeris found out about it, she unknowingly made the others feel guilty, and they willingly helped out in the work. At times, sneaky Sephiroth would disappear to spend some time with Aeris, but after a few times, Rufus caught on and chained Cloud to Sephiroth so that he had a chaperon. Neither of the Space SOLDIERS were happy about that, but those were the times in the construction of hot springs.  
  
Leaning against the poolside, Sephiroth reached out towards the tray of drinks and grabbed a small cup of warm sake. He gulped it down, enjoying the peaceful moment, but it would be even better if he had Aeris next to him. He smiled at the thought with his gazing up through the glass windows, but it soon disappeared when Rufus with a towel around his waist walked into the spa area. "S**t, of all the people," the blonde mumbled, turning around to leave.  
  
"What's the hurry?" Sephiroth smirked, "There's enough room for the two of us... Unless you fear me."  
  
Having struck a nerve to his pride, Rufus quickly proved him wrong by stepping into the waters. He grabbed the bottle of sake and chugged it down like it was plain water. He was unsober after that with his speech slurring immediately as he poked Sephiroth in the arm, "Stu~pe~d Si~phruth, dunna thinka~... jes becuz yo~u... met Ledi~ Aeri~sss... first... do~zn't mi~an iny~thi~n'..."  
  
Sephiroth ignored the drunk, closing his eyes, and began to reminisced on his first encounter with the girl. During his seven hundred years of confinement, he could still have contact with the outside world by traveling outside the cave through his astral body. It was that one day that when he was watching the world through the astral body that he spotted a young girl with a beautiful woman.  
  
He watched them closely and soon caught the girl's emerald eyes staring at his own. It shocked him that the girl could see his astral body sitting on the rocks looking right at her when no else could, but he didn't show any emotions at that time nor throughout the years he continued to watch the girl when she visited the cave by herself.   
  
Every time he saw her, she would usually speak aloud about the weather or talk of her experience that day as if she was carrying on a conversation with him. "Wow," she spoke to him one day, staring at him in awe, "you have such pretty, shiny hair, lady!" She smiled while his expression was neutral, but if anyone looked closely, a few beads of sweat had formed on his head at the comment.  
  
She tugged on her only braided hair, saying, "I'll grow my hair long and make it shiny just like yours!" The one-sided conversation ended there when her mother called her for dinner. He had no choice but to watch the happy girl skip away, leaving him alone once more. Because of her, he longed to be free of his imprisonment just to be with her, his dear Aeris. But she probably saw him as nothing more than a monster.  
  
"Yer too~ cold-ha~ted..." Rufus continued, doing a terrible job of pouring the sake into the tiny cup, "Ledi~ E~ri~sssssss... iz too~ pu~rfect... Jes like me~!!" He chuckled while Sephiroth glared at him, getting that urge to stab him with the Masamune.  
  
"CANNONBALL!!" a naked Reno shouted, running into the pool area, and jumped into the waters with a huge splash washing over Sephiroth and Rufus. Reno surfaced only to get his head whacked with the drink tray by a wet, sober Rufus. "Hey, can't a guy just have some fun?!! You guys are just f**kin' boring!!"  
  
"Watch your damn language!" Rufus ordered, "You're in the presence of royalty!"  
  
Sephiroth and Reno rolled their eyes. The red-head grabbed another bottle of sake and gulped the rest of it down, but he was still sober since it took gallons of alcohol to get him drunk. "Aaah man, this is THE life!" he chuckled. "Forget my lousy, I'm damn happy to be stranded on this planet. A place to stay, no work, a gorgeous chick around 24/7!! Yep, I'm in heaven...  
  
"Damn, just thinkin' 'bout Aeris makes me wanna--OUWE!!" Reno glared at Rufus, who had smacked his head, and apparently he had overlooked Sephiroth's murderous, green eyes. "What the f**k's wrong with you?!!" he sneered, "Don't tell me you haven't thought about her like that?! Beautiful, emerald eyes; delicous-lookin', pink lips; fine, slender legs; that sexy body of curves... and her nice, REAL nice brea--GAAAAH!"  
  
Sephiroth and Rufus began dunking Reno into the pool, not wanting to hear anything about their Aeris from the mouth of a sleezy pervert. It was then that a fully clothed Cloud walked in on the scene, and he would've quickly turned around and left if it wasn't for the fact that he was there to inform them of lunch. "It's time to eat," he said and sniffed the air at the heavy smell of sake, "Aaawe s**t, you guys drank all the sake without me?!!"  
  
"Reno's fault," the prince and the ex-Space SOLDIER replied, still trying to drown poor Reno. An angry Cloud jumped into the pool and helped them, but no later did the glass ceiling break, and a strange, glowing sphere descended from above.  
  
Everyone dropped their murderous intent, leaving a lucky Reno gasping for air, and prepared themselves against the visitor. The Masamune appeared in Sephiroth's hand as Cloud threw him a towel, ordering, "Cover up." The silver-haired one shrugged and wrapped it around his waist while Rufus had to settle with the tray since he would have to run back to the house for his weapon. Cloud always carried his Ultima Weapon strapped to his back, so he had his ready.  
  
The light faded away to reveal the cloaked figure from Cloud's nightmare, but Sephiroth recognized the man and immediately charged at him with a frown. The stranger shot out an energy ball at Sephiroth, who knocked it away with the Masamune, but the unexpected second blast smashed into him. The man teleported over to Sephiroth, who swung the blade, missing his target.  
  
Cloud launched his attack from the other side, bu the man shot out several mini blasts at the blonde, allowing Sephiroth to strike at him, but the ex-Space SOLDIER bounced back from the barrier that protected the man. A blast wounded Cloud, sending him back onto the floor. "Cloud!" Rufus hurried to his brother's side, "Are you all right?"  
  
He nodded, getting up with Rufus's help. They turned back to Sephiroth and the stranger, but neither were in sight. "We're in deep s**t," Reno said, climbing out of the bath, when the SHINRA-sei guardian duo floated into the bathing area.  
  
"Woohoo, Reno's NEK-KIIIIIIIIIIIIID!!" Yuffie sung, making her way over to the princes. Reno turned red but was grateful when Tifa handed him a towel after headbutting Yuffie to silence.  
  
"CLOUD-SAMA!!" Tifa then hurried to the young blonde's side. "Oooh, tell me who hurt you!!! I'll hurt them TEN times more!!"  
  
"What are you two doing here?" Rufus questioned, dumping his brother into Tifa's care since she seemed so insistent on it. Cloud gave him a look that was like 'thanks for being such a GREAT older brother'.  
  
"Miss Aeris told us to come in here to check on everyone," Yuffie said, "after that loud blast we heard. What's goin' on?"  
  
At the mention of the girl's name, she slowly walked into the area with her eyes tightly shut, using the Royal Guard as a walking stick. "Umm guys, is everything okay?" she asked worriedly, "And you ARE decently dressed, right?"  
  
"Pretty much," Cloud answered, and Aeris opened her eyes and sighed in relief.  
  
"Where's Sephy?" she asked with great concern, looking up at the broken ceiling. "Oh dear, I hope it's not another visitor."  
  
Reno, holding the towel around his waist, stood next to Aeris and smirked, "Don't worry, babe, you've got Reno here. I'll protect you at all costs from that f**kin' criminal Hojo." He was about to put his free arm around Aeris's shoulder, but a flying try knocked him to the ground.  
  
Somewhat oblivious to that, Aeris started running for the exit, shouting, "We have to find Sephy! He might need help!!" Cloud immediately ran after her with Yuffie and Tifa following close behind. Rufus sulked a bit, not wanting to help his rival, but Aeris was putting herself in danger, so he had to be there to protect her. On his way out, he grabbed Reno's ponytail and dragged the dazed TURKS officer towards the dressing room before heading after the others.  
  
  
Aeris and the others searched all over the place for Hojo and Sephiroth but ended back in front of the 'cavern turned hot springs' (which will be called the _Bishouen Springs_) place with the girl looking dejected and Rufus wearing an overjoyed smile. "Where could they be?!" she cried frantically, pacing back and forth. No one noticed the dark, mysterious forest just to the side of the _Bishounen Springs_ until Red-Ohki strolled up to them from the house.  
  
"Why is everyone standing out here?" he asked. Noticing the troubled look on Aeris's face and Sephiroth was nowhere in sight, he put one and one together (making two 'cause he was SO smart) and glanced over at the eerie forests. "Despite the fact that I can sniff out Sephiroth's scent, have you checked that mysterious forest that just appeared from nowhere?"  
  
They blinked at Red-Ohki's keen observation, and then Reno charged ahead, becoming the new leader of their pack. It was VERY unfortunate to have Reno lead because they were soon lost in the forest maze for what seemed like hours, but Red-Ohki quickly picked up Sephiroth's scent and rushed towards the light at the end of the forest tunnel.  
  
"When this is over," Rufus began, glaring over his shoulder at Reno, "I'm reporting your ass to TURKS headquarters. You won't be patrolling this isolated region anymore, but a blackhole instead!!"  
  
"WAAAAH!!" Yuffie cried when she saw Hojo hovering over what appeared to be a giant, glowing tree. The tree wasn't what caused her to yell out, but it was the old geezer, "IT'S A FREAK!!"  
  
After glancing over at a frightened Aeris, Reno smiled, thinking he could apprehend Hojo right there to show off his courageous spirit to her and to get a promotion from headquarters. He whipped out his nightstick and stepped in front of the group, confronting the criminal, "Hey, Hojo! You're under arrest for bein' a f**kin' pain and lookin' like ol', perverted s**t!!"  
  
Rufus made a disgusted face, leaning over to his brother, and whispered, "Uugh, isn't he talkin' 'bout himself?!"  
  
Cloud wasn't listening because he was staring at the familiar tree that Rufus didn't seem to recognize right away. "That tree," he started, "Isn't that the Ancient Tree?"  
  
"Oh s**t!" the older prince exclaimed, "The tree part of Yggdrasil!! Analfi's airship!! I knew she's still alive!!"  
  
Hojo chuckled, taking a careful look at the group before him. "Kukuku, it's nice to have an audience, but we are missing someone."  
  
"Sephy!!" Aeris shouted, "Where is he?!!"  
  
"_Sephy_?" he repeated, looking very amused at the nickname. "Kuku, he's right here." He waved his hand, and a battered-looking Sephiroth appeared in the air and fell to the ground in a heap. Aeris was about to run to the fallen ex-Space SOLDIER, but Cloud and Red-Ohki blocked her way, saying it was too dangerous. Hojo descended to the ground and slowly advanced towards the group, "Having the princes of SHINRA-sei here is very convenient."  
  
"Stop, Hojo! Or I'll fire, dammit!" Reno warned, aiming his weapon at the man, "I don't give a f**k for the royal asses, but lay one f**kin' finger on Aeris the babe, then I'll fry your s**tty self till no one'll recognized the pile of s**t that's of the f**ked up you!" Hojo just chuckled quietly--because he couldn't go right out and laugh like crazy or else he would have another coughing fit--and proceeded forward, ignoring the vulgar threat.  
  
Pissed, Reno blasted a wave of flames from the nightstick at Hojo, but the attack deflected (like before) because the old man was being protected by a force field. That wasn't the end of it when the flames bounced back out of control, causing everyone (except Hojo and Sephiroth) to duck from the crazy blaze. Aeris and the others threw themselves on the ground while Yuffie and Tifa in a panick rammed into each other, knocking one another into a daze like the USEFUL guardians they were.  
  
Hojo was looming over Rufus and Cloud flattened on the ground and grinned evilly until his head snapped back at Aeris's stern, angelic voice, "Stop it, Mr. Hojo! If you hurt my friends, I won't hesitate to fight you!" He narrowed his eyes at her, glancing from top to bottom and bottom to top...  
  
But a few shots from Rufus's weapon stopped his roaming eyes. "You f**kin' pervert!!" the prince growled. Unfortunately, the bullets ricocheted off the invisible field, just missing Reno's relieved head and Red-Ohki's tail and barely nicking Cloud's precious, chocobo-style hair! [SD-K-chan's snickering.]  
  
"UUWAAAAAAAH!! MY HAIR!!" Cloud screamed (almost a bit too girly) as Reno snickered at the prince's misfortune. At his cries, Tifa immediately got out of her dazed stated and rushed to the blonde's side, consoling him at the tiny loss.  
  
Hojo ignored them and focused his attention on Aeris, who had the Royal Guard in her defensive stance. He eyed the staff, noting the three materia, and smiled brightly. "Kuku, that staff... so much power!!! BWAAHAHAHA--KACK!!" He had forgotten about his poor health in his brief, blissful state. "Hand it over, little girl!"  
  
Aeris fell back a few steps, not liking that menacing look on the man's face. Hojo charged at her, intent on killing her and taking the staff and the materia as his own, but he didn't anticipate on Sephiroth waking up and landing a fist into his jaw. After landing abruptly against the trunk of a tree, Hojo's eyes flared at Sephiroth, who was standing protectively in front of Aeris. Then he smiled because he was and would forever be Sephiroth's... MASTER!!  
  
Using whatever mind control he had (like JENOVA 'cept stronger), Hojo turned Sephiroth against Aeris by making his mind into a blank slate taking orders from only his master. [SD-K-chan's glaring at Hojo: HOW EVIL!] Sephiroth had the girl pinned beneath his body on the ground as she stared shockingly at his expressionless face. She kept a strong grip on the Royal Guard, but her saddened eyes were locked on his face, hoping that he would snap out of it.  
  
Sephiroth leaned closer and closer to her delicate face, holding back her hurtful tears of his betrayal, while everyone watched with great intensity. Rufus and Reno were cursing wildly, practically brandishing their weapons at Sephiroth to knock him from Aeris's lips. Hojo watched closely as his puppet's lips descended upon a wide-eyed Aeris, who didn't do a thing to struggle away.  
  
"OH, HOW ROMANTIC!!" Yuffie whimpered.  
  
"It would be if he wasn't bein' controlled!" Tifa grumbled and then blinked at what she had just said, "Or is he?" Everyone then glared at Hojo, blaming him for what Sephiroth was doing.  
  
"HEY, I didn't tell him to KISS her!!" he tried to defend himself, waving his hands in front of him. He rushed over to Sephiroth and Aeris and yelled at the silver-haired one, who ended the kiss. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOIN'?!! I ordered you to KILL her!!" Hojo groaned and put a hand to his head as if he had a migraine, "Uugh, it doesn't matter. At least I'll have the staff."  
  
Hojo had some difficulty in prying Aeris's unwilling fingers from the staff, but with Sephiroth's second kiss, the Royal Guard was in the madman's hand... for just a few seconds before flying off to its original owner, who happened to be Iflana emerging from the forests' shadows. Instead of looking pissed, Hojo was actually happy, "Kuku, finally the first crown Cetran princess arrives!"  
  
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!!" Rufus shouted loudly over everyone else (except for Iflana and Sephiroth). The prince could only gape in shock at the old woman standing there.  
  
"Okay, Sephiroth," Hojo called, "Kill everyone, but capture the Cetra." Everyone glared at him, and he looked at them, trying to be innocent as can be (but it ain't workin'), "What? I hate getting my hands dirty." He patted Sephiroth's head, "Now be a good boy, and listen to _papa_ . If you do, I'll let you play with this girl."  
  
As IF he was NOT under Hojo's control, Sephiroth released Aeris's wrists and stood up, unsheathing the Masamune from his (contracted) subspace storage. He and Iflana engaged in an intricate battle that had everyone's eyes flying all over the forest ground and air (and would be too hard to describe and the writer's too lazy).  
  
While the battle went on, Cloud, Red-Ohki, Rufus, Reno and the guardian logs decided to ambush Hojo, but the sneaky bastard pulled out a giant laser-cannon thingie from HIS subspace and aimed it directly at them. "KUKUKU~, let's see you go up against this li'l baby," he chuckled, holding the remote with a big, red button on it in his hand. His finger lingered in the air over the dangerous button as if toying with their minds.  
  
"OH NO, YOU DON'T!" Aeris said, getting all eyes (except for Sephiroth and Iflana) on her, as she concentrated all her energy on that laser-cannon weapon still aimed at her friends. And in the next blink of an eye, a loud sound crackled over their heads, and a bright flash broke through the skies, zapping the huge weapon out of comission. Right after Aeris's sudden magical powers, everyone (except you know who) flung themselves to the ground as far away from Hojo and the haywired weapon as they could get, and then a loud explosion echoed through the forest.  
  
After the smoke cleared, a not so happy Hojo was covered in soot and whatnot while the guys doubled over in laughter. With that situation settled, the aerial battle was just ending too with Sephiroth thrown through the air and onto the ground, not because Iflana was a better fight but the power of the Royal Guard and the materias were too great for the unbeatable, Masamune-wielding ex-Space SOLDIER!  
  
"Grandmother!" Aeris cried, "please don't kill Sephy!!"  
  
The woman looked at the girl with an amused smile and then became the plotting grandmother she was, having discovered her granddaughter's true feelings, "Oho~hoho~, so you DO have interest in _Sephy_!!" Aeris dropped her head wearily in her hands while Rufus and Reno glared at the laughing woman.  
  
While everyone was distracted, a vengeful Hojo picked up Sephiroth's semi-conscious form. Aeris gasped, silently scolding herself for her carelessness, "SEPHY!!"  
  
"Kuku, if you want little Sephy back," Hojo began but was quickly interrupted by Rufus and Reno.  
  
"HELL NO!" the pair said, "YOU CAN F**KIN' TAKE 'IM!!"  
  
Cloud sighed, shaking his head, while Aeris and Red-Ohki glared at the two. Sweatdropping, Hojo recomposed himself so he could finish the deal, "Well whoever wants him back will have to come to me, on board the Highwind. Kukuku~!" He disappeared, leaving his hideous cackling behind.  
  
With Hojo's words spiraling around in his head, Rufus hurried over to Iflana and stared at the woman hard, wanting a straight answer, "Analfi, is that really you?" She nodded. "What happened?! You're a full-blooded Cetran! You shouldn't have aged so quickly... And the last time I saw you..." His voice trailed away sadly that moved Yuffie and Tifa so that the pair leaned on each other for support, pouring their tears and wailing in everyone's ears.  
  
"WHY?!! WHY??!!! YOU CAN'T BE AN OLD WOMAN!!" the crowned prince shouted, collapsing onto his knees in frustration. "I'M NOT MARRYIN' AN OLD WOMAN!!!" Cloud glared at his inconsiderate brother when the said woman was standing right there.  
  
"That's such a shame," Iflana pouted, snapping her fingers, "I could've bagged myself a rich, young husband!"  
  
"Grandmother!" Aeris scolded.  
  
Cloud, the sensible prince, asked the woman, "But why didn't you return to SHINRA-sei after you defeated Sephiroth?"  
  
"Oho~hoho~!!" she laughed, waving a white folding fan with SHINRA-sei's logo on it in front of her face, "Why do you think I left in the first place?!" The others blinked cluelessly at her, awaiting her dreadful answer. She covered her lower face with the fan, looking at them slyly. "After I laid eyes on Sephiroth, I knew of no other man for meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!! And I chased him dooooooooooooooooown... till he said 'yeeeeeeeeeeees'!!" she sang.  
  
Of course, they facefaulted. "Just kidding!" she chirped. She pulled Rufus back on his feet, looking for once very serious, "But you and Aeris are about the same age, you two could start a new life together... and I'll be happy, old woman..." Her eyes became more menacing, narrowing into slits at a nervous Rufus, "But promise me one thing." He nodded, swallowing hard. "Bear me lots of great-grandchildreeeeeeeeeeeeen!!" she sang again, and they facefaulted.  
  
A blushing Aeris was the first to recover, focusing on more important matters. "I'm going after Hojo," she announced to the dismay of Rufus and Reno. "I can't let Sephy stay under his control. Who knows what a madman will force him to do!!"  
  
"Oh I can think of a few things," Yuffie snickered, "Heh heh."  
  
"YUF!!" Tifa screamed at her blockheard partner, "GET YOUR MIND OUTTA THE GUTTER!!"  
  
"What?!" she asked innocently, "I would just have him bake me some oatmeal raisin cookies, wearing a pink dress just like Miss Aeris!"  
  
"YUUUCK!" Reno said, "I HATE those oatmeal raisin s**t!"  
  
"I prefer chocolate-chips myself," Red-Ohki added.  
  
"I have to agree with Red-Ohki," Cloud said.  
  
"Oh no, brownies are my favorite!" Iflana insisted. "And my little Aeris makes THE best! Don't you, sweetie?" She patted the girl's head.  
  
"Umm, after I get Sephy back, I'll make some for everyone," she compromised, taking the Royal Guard from her grandmother's hand. Cloud and Red-Ohki quickly volunteered to help her, leaving only Reno and Rufus to answer with silence.  
  
Just looking into Aeris's big, green eyes, Reno couldn't help but give in, "OH F**K IT!! I'd do anything for the babe! I'm in." Aeris gave him a small hug, and Cloud immediately intervened before Reno's hands began to wander where they shouldn't be wandering.  
  
"I'm going too," Rufus finally announced. "But I'm not doing it for bleach-head. I'm going because I made a promise to forever protect my Cetran princess," he said, locking his eyes onto Aeris. [SD-K-chan with hearts in her eyes: How sweet!!]  
  
Before the scene got any sweeter, melting them all into liquid mush, Cloud ordered Tifa and Yuffie to protect Iflana while the others questioned how to get into space. That was when they remembered Red-Ohki was a ship too. Cloud saw the red creature by the Yggdrasil tree and called out to him, "Red, you okay?"  
  
"Yes, I'm fine," he answered.  
  
Iflana walked up to them, "There's still energy in Yggdrasil. If Red-Ohki merges with it, you'll be able to match against the Highwind." Red-Ohki nodded, having similar thoughts on that. Glowing a bright, red aura, Red-Ohki leapt into the air and went through an undescribable process of changing into that big, red spaceship and at the same time, the white glow from Yggdrasil intensified until it disappeared, merging its energy (which was in the form of the tree) with the red spaceship, and became a weird-looking ship with a tree sprouting out at the top. [SD-K-chan sweatdrops: I feel sorrie for Red-Ohki...]  
  
Before Red-Ohki beamed the group on board the ship, Iflana spoked to Aeris once more about the staff, "Aeris, please take care... now that the Royal Guard has accepted you as its rightful owner." She nodded and went off to join her friends in the mission to rescue Sephiroth!  
  

> 
> **~ * ~ * ~ * ~**  

> 
>   
Out in space, the Highwind had slowly drifted farther away from the Planet's orbit while Hojo was in hurry to gulp down his medication for villains that promised to improve the evilness and insanity for a good day's work to annoy the good guys. After that errand was done, he teleported back into that cathedral-looking room with the huge pipe organ just in time to see Red-Ohki approaching on the screen.  
  
Sephiroth was now wide awake with his usual, impassive self, but he was securely wrapped in heavy chains that didn't even allow him much movement if he wanted to, and being imprisoned inside a chocobo cage didn't make him any happier (if he was happy to begin with). But strangely, he did twitch slightly when Hojo began cackling in that annoying sound, "Kuku~, they're fools, coming for their deaths!! I'm their GRIM REAPER!! KAKAAKA~!"  
  
"Hmm, a change of tune," Sephiroth mused at the new laughter.  
  
"But why are they risking their lives to save someone like you?!!" Hojo turned around and looked at his prisoner for a moment as if searching for an answer by just staring. "They're certainly not your fanclub--yours would be larger!! Curse your handsome, silent, cold self!! Why don't I, the greatest scientific mind in the universe, have a shrine dedicated to me??!!" he whined. Sephiroth couldn't care less.  
  
As quickly as that came, it left his system as he concentrated on his new target, "Oh well, let's see how Red-Ohki puts up against this!" He played an out of tune chord that caused the Highwind airship to start firing at Red-Ohki.  
  
  
"That f**ked up Highwind is gonna attack!!" Rufus commanded, standing on the bridge of Red-Ohki while Reno and Cloud fumble around with the unfamiliar controls.  
  
"Dammit, you've got the f**kin' easy job, standin' their and yellin' s**t at us!" Reno complained, having found something that was close to the navigations control, and became the unsaid pilot of the ship.  
  
"JUST ATTACK, DAMMIT!!" Cloud yelled, "BEFORE IT GETS US!!"  
  
"S**T, I DON'T KNOW A DAMN THING 'BOUT SEPH'S F**KIN' SHIP!!"  
  
"Excuse me," came Red-Ohki's voice.  
  
"Uuh, no offense, Red, but this is ME," Reno said, stressing his foul-mouth habit.  
  
"Point taken."  
  
Reno was doing his best to evade the onslaught of energy beams, but the way most of the beams were hitting all of Red-Ohki's moves, it was as if Hojo knew all the evasive manuevers before hand. "WE'RE GETTIN' CREAMED LIKE S**T HERE!!" he yelled, "HOW THE HELL..."  
  
To answer his incomplete question, Red-Ohki's voice boomed over him again, "Did I mention that Hojo experimented on me?"  
  
"A f**kin' thanks, Red. At least I know I'm not s**tty pilot."  
  
"That's YOUR opinion against the rest of the universe," the ship snorted.  
  
"Oh no, what should we do?!" Aeris asked practically to herself since the others were preoccuppied with evading the blasts. "Rufus," she called, getting an idea, "What if we attack from Yggdrasil? Is it possible?"  
  
"It's possible, but Yggdrasil is only a supporting unit to Red-Ohki. It's still risky."  
  
"We don't have another alternative."  
  
"But Aeris! Only a Cetran can activate it!!"  
  
She nodded, "I know, and since I have the blood of the Cetras, I'm the only candidate." Everyone wanted to object, but they knew that the girl would have it no other way.  
  
  
And soon, Aeris teleported over to the bridge of the Ancient Yggdrasil that was at the bow of the combined spaceship, directly in view of the enemy airship. She placed the Royal Guard upright on the ground before her and prepared to follow Rufus's instructions in engaging the _Ancient Fairy Wings_ , the Cetran's most powerful weapon that drew on the powers of the white and black materia, combining the two opposing forces. [SD-K-chan's speechless.]  
  
It was only natural that Aeris, being half Cetran, activated the Ancient Fairy Wings, which shielded Red-Ohki from Hojo's insane barrage. But the devious Hojo had planned on this all along and charged up his weapons for the mother of all huge blasts by playing another series of chord on the organ that was painfully out of tune and deafening. [K-chan: I don't know how Sephy can stand it!]  
  
  
"Be careful, Lady Aeris!" Rufus warned, "The Ancient Fairy Wings are best at defense, but if used offensively, then they'll be extremely vulnerable!" He silently wished there was some way he could help her, but because he wasn't a Cetran--not even half-blooded--he couldn't do a thing but only instruct Aeris in its usage.  
  
  
Aeris had no choice but go for the offensive method to protect her friends, who had willingly come with her even though half of them didn't want to. She prayed to her ancestors to protect them all and then gathered up all her energy for attack.  
  
Both ships fired at once, but Aeris wasn't able to channel enough energy into the attack, so the blast from the Highwind ripped through the Ancient Fairy Wings' offensive firepower, destroying the bridge of the Yggsdrasil.  
  
  
"AERIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISS!!" Rufus and the others cried while all were desparately trying to find any signs of the pink-dressed girl from the wreckage. Finding nothing but debris floating in space, hatred burned in them instead of grief, and anyone who sided with Hojo should be pitied when three of the most dangerous people in the universe were about to board the Highwind and hunt down that damned madman.  
  
  
After seeing that horrible explosion, Sephiroth went beserk, busting through the chains like they were silly string, and teleported from his pathetic confinements to the wreckage around Yggdrasil in search of his precious Aeris. His eyes frantically searched with worriment showing in his every moment and facial muscle. When he found a part of her pink dress stained with blood, he let out a blood-curling yell that actually reached Iflana and the guardians on the Planet.  
  
"That doesn't sound good," Yuffie remarked.  
  
  
Back in space, Sephiroth turned to face the Highwind with deadly, glowing, green eyes, vowing that Hojo was going to pay for taking Aeris away from him, "Hojo, you're a DEAD man."  


**TO BE CONTINUED... Episode Six, "Aeris, Where Are You?!"** (Another working title.)  
**  
**

**~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~**** * ~ * ~**  


  
Gomen to all Reno fans out there for picking on him--I love him too!! It just makes things more interesting, ne? Heh heh... and it's quite long too with the extra dialogue and STUFF... Hey, I'm SOOOOOO creative with titles, ne?  
  
Err, I don't know if I should apologize for making Hojo weird like that... ya know, with his _kukuku_s--that's the sound that villains or evil monsters make, and I could just picture Hojo doing that, so it stucked... It's meant to annoy the cast too. And guess what? You'll never know if Sephy was completely under Hojo's control or not... I mean, with Aeris involved. See, he couldn't possibly hurt her when he loves her so much!! Or that was just my imagination... Kukuku... Oopsie, there I go... Haha...  
  
And I apologize for the cookies and stuff... food was my mind at the time... And sorrie 'bout rushing the end a bit there. I was too lazy to go and rewatch that episode to add in more details... plus my brothers are watching _Flame of Recca_... [gasps] And heaven forbid me to interrupt their sacred series!!  
  
K-chan =6_6=  


   [1]: mailto:hineko@bellsouth.net



	6. Party on the Highwind

** IMPORTANT STUFF:**_Final Fantasy VII_ and _Tenchi Muyo_ do not belong to me. This was all inspired from "Aeris Muyo in Tokyo" by Washu Ishida.  
  
  
**K-chan:** *bow* Konnichi wa, minna-san!! [giggling] Last time on _Cetra Muyo_, Hojo finally showed his face and demonstrated how MEAN he is... *gasp* by kidnapping SEPHY!!!  
**SD-Aeris:** [wailing] NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! NOT SEPHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!  
**K-chan:** And then he had the nerves to kill AERIS!!  
**SD-Aeris:** [still wailing] NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! NOT MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!! [stops crying and blinks] Umm, then I'm suppose to be dead?? [in an exasperated tone] AGAIN?!!  
**SD-K-chan:** *sweatdrops* Err, and now the finale to this Hojo storyline!  
**SD-Aeris:** [cheering] YAAAY!!  
**SD-K-chan:** Uuh Aeris, I think you should lay off the chocolate.  
**SD-Aeris:** [wailing for the last time] NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! NOT CHOCOLAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE!!!  
  
** ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~**  
  
  
A _Final Fantasy VII_ & _Tenchi Muyo_ Fusion  
  
**Cetra Muyo OAV**   
(No Need for a Cetra OAV)  
  
written by K-chan   
  
**Episode Six: Party on the Highwind!**  
  
  
The debris from the destroyed bridge of Yggdrasil were drifting along in silence as Sephiroth stood on what was left of the holy tree, clutching onto the remaining pink cloth of his beloved Aeris. He was thinking all sorts of gruesome ideas to kill Hojo for what he had done, but his eyes caught onto Red-Ohki floating by.  
  
Instead of staying in space where oxygen was absent--but apparently he was grieving so deeply that he just forgot the MINOR detail--Sephiroth immediately teleported onto the main deck of Red-Ohki, where Rufus, Cloud and Reno were still in shock from the horrible incident. Reno was the first to snap out of it, glaring at Sephiroth, "Weren't you f**kin' captured?!!"  
  
After hearing that, Rufus's briefly void eyes were filled with rage, directing it at Sephiroth now, "WHY DIDN'T YOU ESCAPE SOONER?!! WHY?!!" He turned away and dropped his head in his hands, "Why?!! Why, Aeris? Why did you risk your life for someone so unworthy?!!"  
  
"Now is not the time for mourning," the silver-haired man announced, "It is vengeance that we must seek."  
  
Rufus covered his ears in frustration, denying that Aeris was truly gone, "SHUT UP!! JUST SHUT THE F**K UP!!" Sephiroth just threw the bloody fabric in Rufus's face to get him to see the truth. The blonde just stared wide-eyed at the item in his hands. His lips trembled, not sure nor able to form any words.  
  
Cloud watched his brother with great concern, but he knew he couldn't console him with any words right now. He had to face it on his own, but Cloud himself was torn inside at the acceptance of Aeris's death. She was like the sister he never had, and like the others, he had grown fond of her.  
  
Reno, on the other hand, was too pissed to worry about the others. His mind worked similiar to Sephiroth's but ten times as irrational and filled with obscene words, directing it at Hojo, of course. Aeris was the first (and only) girl to ever treat him with respect, despite his classless personality, and for someone to kill the most kindest person in the universe was outright sinful (not that he would care about sins).  
  
"I will board the Highwind," Sephiroth broke them out of their thoughts, holding a nice gleaming Masamune he had just sharpened, "and kill Hojo myself."  
  
"No, Sephiroth," Cloud interrupted, "You're not going alone." He looked at his brother and then to Reno and said, "We may have our differences, but one thing we have in common is Aeris. We all have to avenge her death, and we're also doing it for the future. Aeris wouldn't want a madman running loose in the universe."  
  
"F**k the universe," Reno shouted, "but Hojo will pay with his life! I'm in!"  
  
"Red-Ohki!" Sephiroth called. The ship immediately roared with intensity as it charged at the Highwind with everything it had. Red-Ohki pierced the target's shield and crashed into the ship. The four, young men reappeared from their ship onto the Highwind, all decked out in their battle outfits (which pretty much was what they usually wore) with weapons in hands.  
  
There were two main hallways, and they silently agreed on splitting into two groups: Sephiroth & Rufus and Cloud & Reno. Being quite competitive against Sephiroth, Rufus wasn't about to let the ex-Space SOLDIER any chance at killing Hojo first. Besides that, Reno would never openly admit his fear of Sephiroth, but the long-haired man just gives him the creeps. And Cloud couldn't care less to who he was paired with.  
  
The two groups proceed down their different paths, both facing robots and monsters varying all sizes--even tiny ones that Rufus accidently stepped on, ruining his boots. He lifted up his boots and cringed at the purple slime oozing to the floor, "S**t, these were my favorite pair," he grumbled. He looked over at Sephiroth to see how the guy was doing and facefaulted at the sight of silver-haired man covered in the purple slime after slicing and dicing through an army of monsters.  
  
Rufus blasted several shots at the robotic arms coming through the walls. After the hallway was cleared, he called, "Sephiroth."  
  
"What?" He swung his sword aside, flinging off the excess slime, and then sheathed through his belt hook 'cause he really didn't have a sheath for it.  
  
"You reek," he said, pinching his nose, and walked at a far distance from him. Sephiroth just stared blankly ahead, and after a few seconds, he lifted his arm to his face and sniffed the slimy odor. He put it back down to his side, keeping a passive look, and concluded quietly, "Hojo, you're DEFINITELY a dead man."  
  
**~ * ~ * ~ * ~**  
  
Meanwhile, Hojo was sitting in front of his organ and looking through a booklet to pass the time away. He was peculiarly immersed in what read 'Pipe Organ Lessons by Kagato' on the cover. After a few pages, he tried his hand at the instrument before, TRYING to sound better, but it was STILL not working.  
  
If it was possible to have a word from the author of the book, one can certainly predict his words: 'I'm not a miracle worker,' Kagato would say. [SD-K-chan sweatdrops: Just stick to science, Hojo.]  
  
**~ * ~ * ~ * ~**  
  
While this was all happening in the Highwind, something awesome was about to occur in space. At the wreckage of the Yggdrasil bridge, Aeris was wholly encased in some sort of bubble, but the blast really did a number on her body of cuts and bruises. Then faint waves of glowing green began to appear and circle around Aeris, who remained unconscious. The green streams continued to gather around her, radiating brighter every time, and soon, she disappeared in the flash of green light.  
  
**~ * ~ * ~ * ~**  
  
Back on the Highwind, Cloud just finished cutting through several robots. He placed the Ultima Sword in its place on his back and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He saw ahead, where the two hallways converged, that his brother and Sephiroth were moving on, but when he heard a beeping go off, he glanced back at Reno. The red-head threw his favorite words in the air as he fumbled with the TURKS's device, "I f**kin' swear this thing's out to get me."  
  
"Then, why the hell do you STILL have it?!" the blonde said, annoyed. "Just throw it away! We have to catch up to the others!"  
  
"Fine fine! I'll get rid of the damn thing." Giving up on it, Reno threw it over his shoulder, but what neither expected was it to emit a blinding light that absorbed them into a parallel subspace of the Highwind. After the light faded away and Reno picked up again, thinking maybe it COULD be useful. He hurried after Cloud to catch up with the others, neither realizing that they had been pulled into a parallel subspace--a plane different than that of Sephiroth's and Rufus's. The lost pair passed through an archway of the so-called mirror world, similar to the others in the real one.  
  
**~ * ~ * ~ * ~**  
  
Sephiroth and Rufus arrived in Hojo's main chamber, glaring at the form of the scientist as he continued to play horribly on the organ. To make matters worse, Hojo started to play "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" for the hell of it, and it pretty much annoyed Sephiroth who yelled, "STOP IT, YOU EVIL, MUSICALLY-CHALLENGED, LITTLE TROLL!!"  
  
Hojo stopped and rose from his seat to greet his visitors, "Kukuku~, the talent runs in the family." He bowed to Rufus, "Welcome aboard the magnificent Highwind, Your Highness... It will be your burial ground!"   
  
The blonde fumed and aimed his shotgun at the man while Sephiroth pushed him aside, "This is my fight!" The ex-Space SOLDIER charged forward at Hojo and executed a sword technique with the Masamune, but Hojo continued to remain untouchable (not that anyone would want to touch him) because of the main shield generated inside the airship. The collision against the shield only forced Sephiroth back while Hojo laughed at his uselessness.  
  
"Stupid Sephiroth," Rufus scoffed, "you forgot that minor detail, huh? It's my turn now." Raising his weapon at the madman, he chanted some words in another language that began to gather various colored energy around him, and the colorful light show delighted the giddy Hojo at such power. "SHINRA RAGE!" Rufus yelled, forcing his energy into the shotgun, and pulled the trigger. The powerful energy ball shot out at the barrier, trying to drill into it, as Hojo doubled the power of the ship into keeping up the defense, and in the end, the shield flared up and disintegrated Rufus's energy ball. The shockwave knocked Rufus unconscious, meters away, leaving Hojo the only one to be standing between the two.  
  
"That power is no match for me," Hojo laughed and then started coughing from the excitement.  
  
"You'll just die of old age later on," came Sephiroth's voice from behind Hojo, "but I'll do you a favor and end it now." While Hojo was distracted with Rufus's attack, Sephiroth was able to sneak up from behind and thrusted the Masamune through Hojo's throat, but the man suddenly disappeared. Dumbfounded to what happened, Sephiroth was caught by surprised when a hand grabbed him by the neck. Hojo emerged from the shadows, smiling, while Sephiroth tried to struggle free from the tight grip.  
  
"You're losing your edge, Sephiroth," he taunted. "Don't you know I'm the greatest scientist in the universe?!! And clones are nothing to me! Ha ha--aack!" After a few minutes of gathering his composure, he then turned Sephiroth to stone and dropped him to the ground. Leaving the failure that is Sephiroth, he turned his attention to Rufus and began to search within his mind on the secrets of the Cetras (since the two royal families were close).  
  
**~ * ~ * ~ * ~**  
  
Meanwhile on the mirror side, Cloud and Reno had reached the equivalent of Hojo's main chamber, but they didn't see Rufus nor Sephiroth anywhere, not even Hojo himself. Cloud was too confused to utter a word, but that didn't stop Reno, "What the hell?! That bastard Hojo must've killed them!!"  
  
"Hey! Don't say that!" the blonde admonished.  
  
"What else could've happened?!" he retorted, "They're definitely not having tea time!"  
  
"Of course not!" he said quietly, thinking that with Rufus's and Sephiroth's clashing personality, they wouldn't be able to have a pleasant, quiet tea time for five seconds before they'd be in each other's face... and right now, it was TOO quiet. "I'm sure they're around here somewhere," he tried to convince himself.  
  
"So it's just the two of us now," Reno sighed, "But that doesn't matter! I'll kill that f**kin' Hojo! I'll avenge Aeris's death!!" While he continued to ramble on, Cloud began to explore the empty room. Up on the platform was a huge crystal with two giant snake statues on both sides, and just as Cloud stepped near them, the snakes became animated and started to attack him.  
  
Cloud dodged them and realized Reno hadn't noticed yet. "RENO!" he shouted, running over to the red head, and tackled him from danger.  
  
"Oh s**t! What the f**k are those?!"  
  
"Obviously, they're giant snakes wanting to eat us," Cloud stated calmly. Reno glared at him but not for long when both had to split up to avoid the oncoming head attack from the two snakes. Cloud gathered himself and turned around to face his opponents. He ran straight for one with the Ultima Weapon in his grip, and he jump aside just as the snake slipped by him and slashed it with the blade. He looked back at the creature, but his attack didn't have any effect on it, probably because it had been stone to begin with... and Cloud started running again.  
  
Reno wasn't doing so great either, only able to run and dodge the snake that was chasing him, and onto a more annoying note for him, his TURKS's device was beeping like crazy again. Running back and forth on the platform, he took the thing out of his pocket, cursing, and threw it randomly into the air. With everyone (and/or everything) preoccuppied with either saving their lives or hunting for food, they didn't notice the device had struck the crystal wall, which began to slowly crack apart.  
  
"DO SOMETHING, RENO!" the blonde prince yelled, "The Ultima Weapon is useless against them!"  
  
"DAMMIT! ALWAYS ME!! RENO THIS, RENO THAT!! F**K IT ALL!! DO I LOOK LIKE GOD OR WHAT?!!"  
  
"NOOOOOOOOO!! THAT'S WHY I'M ASKIN' THE DEVIL FOR HELP, IDIOT!!"  
  
Not realizing that Cloud had insulted him, Reno drew out the nightstick and started throwing out a wave of flames at the snakes, which was working. They were kept at bay, but only for a while because the flame was slowly dying out. "Aaawe s**t," he said, trying to shake more power out.  
  
"What's going on?!" the Shinra prince asked impatiently.  
  
"Hmm... the batteries are low." Cloud slapped his forehead. "Hey, simple mistake." Because of that little mistake of forgetting to recharge the batteries, it would be the death of them.  
  
The fire would soon die out, so Cloud had to think of something, but what? That was when he heard a crack behind him. He saw the lengthy fissure in the crystal, and what surprised him more was in the crystal was someone trapped inside. He couldn't think of anything else to do, so he used the Ultima Weapon and smashed the crystall wall to pieces. Just as the shattered crystal fell to the ground, Reno's fire went out too... but it was then the snakes began to tremble in fear. He was puzzled at to what had caused it until he looked back and saw Cloud watching a figure come out from the broken wall of crystal.  
  
"*!#&%*$ ^!#&*!# &$^@ %!&#@! Hojo ^!#&*!# *!#&%*$ %!&#@! &$^@" came the foul mouth -- worse than Reno's -- of the new face, who was all dressed from head to toe in a pilot's uniform. The only thing that made it through Cloud's ears was the name Hojo, and it wasn't said nicely either. "Who the hell are you people?!" the blonde pilot demanded, holding a spear in their faces.  
  
"I'm Cloud Strife, second prince of SHINRA-SEI. This is Officer Reno of the TURKS Force."  
  
"Huh, so you two set me free," he said, taking a cigarette from his jacket pocket, and lit it. Cloud and Reno glanced at one another, confused, while the strange man just took a smoke break. He looked pass the two and saw the giant snakes, "Dammit, what the hell did that f**kin' Hojo do to those snakes?! Last I saw, they were the size of worms!" He took the his spear and marched directly to the snakes and start shooing them away. They whimper away because of the cloud of smoke burning their senses. "Damn that Hojo, playin' God around here," he muttered, "still at it after six hundred and sixty-six years."  
  
"Umm, so Hojo imprisoned you in the crystal wall?" Cloud inquired.  
  
"Yeah, the name's Cid. Cid Highwind."  
  
"CID HIGHWIND?!!" Reno repeated, "You mean THE Cid Highwind that created the first series of airships?!"  
  
"Heh, that's right. And the one we're on is the very first, but that damn Hojo took over after he got rid of me. He's still causing more trouble than ever, huh?"  
  
"That's an understatement!" Reno yelled, "That f**kin' bastard killed Aeris!! When I see him, I'm gonna ram the nightstick down his throat and--"  
  
Cloud cut in, "After it gets recharged, right? And we have to find the others first."  
  
With a wave of his hand, Cid made an unconscious Sephiroth appear before them, "You mean him?" The long-haired man was still suspended in mid-air as Cid observed him, "Hmm, I have to say that Hojo is talented, creating someone like Sephiroth... but nothing is perfect. He is still human after all."  
  
"Right," Reno rolled his eyes, "Psychotics need to have their own category."  
  
"Who's psychotic?" Sephiroth murmured, waking up, and his feet were on the ground once again.  
  
"Nevermind," the red head grumbled.  
  
"Are you all right, Sephiroth?" Cloud asked. "What happened? And where's my brother?"  
  
"He's with Hojo," Cid said, watching a screen that has CHEF Hojo cooking a dish with Rufus tied to a stake in the background. "Hojo is one sick man," he said in disgust.  
  
"He has always been that way," Sephiroth began, "searching for the secrets to the Cetrans his whole life. He'll never rest until he has it."  
  
"No," the blonde pilot said, puffing out smoke from his mouth, "Not that. Only Hojo could ever make tomatoes into ice cream flavor." He, Cloud and Reno made gagging noises as Chef Hojo scooped out some tomato ice cream and put it on a cone, topped off with whipped cream.  
  
"I'll kill him," Sephiroth stated coldly, glaring at the scientist's image.  
  
"YOU will kill him?" Cid questioned with a raised eyebrow. "You will kill your own father."  
  
"WHAT?! HE'S YOUR FATHER?!" came Cloud's and Reno's voice, and the latter added quietly, "I definitely saw the damn resemblance."  
  
"He's NOT my father," Sephiroth seethed, "He's a weird, little troll with no musical talent. He needs to be killed for my nightmare to end... and... and just because I said so."  
  
"Huh," Cid smirked. An ashtray appeared in mid-air, and he flicked the ash of the cigarette into it. "Whatever floats your boat, kid." Sephiroth grinned before fading back to the other side to continue his battle against Hojo. Seeing him leave, Cloud and Reno tried to follow him, but they just hit the transparent wall and fall back. Cid explained, "We're trapped in the mirror side of the Highwind. People and objects can only pass one way from the real plane to the mirror one."  
  
"But wasn't Sephiroth just here?"  
  
"That was just an astral projection of his body. His real body is still on the other side."  
  
"Damn, this is so confusing!" Reno complained.  
  
"And we're helpless to do anything," Cloud added with a sigh.  
  
**~ * ~ * ~ * ~**  
  
Back on the real side, Rufus woke up to find himself surrounded by darkness. After a while, a young Analfi appeared before him, with a gentle smile. "Analfi..." he whispered.  
  
"Rufus... it's good to see you again... But would you tell me..."  
  
"Tell you? What is it?"  
  
"Tell me why you wanted to marry me? Why the Shinras and Cetras are to be united? What about us that draws you to us? Tell me..."  
  
Rufus suddenly became angry, "You're not Analfi!" She started laughing, then cackling, and finally coughing like the familiar Hojo, whose form appeared from Analfi's. "You know," Rufus said dryly, "that would have been true horror and I would have wet my pants if this wasn't a humor story."  
  
"That is a minor detail! Tell me about the Cetras, or I will do the utmost horrible thing there is!!" Hojo threatened.  
  
The young prince only grew bored, "As if this wasn't horrible enough."  
  
"THAT'S IT!" A bright light flashed, and Rufus snapped out of Hojo's hypnotic trance. He was still bound to the stake in a kitchen setting (that Cid and others were watching from before), where he could see the melting tomato ice cream, and cringed in disgust. "Hmm, then I must come up with another way to get you to speak..." At that moment of thought, Sephiroth appeared and stabbed the Masamune into Hojo's arm.  
  
Hojo screamed like a girl and ran off...  
  
**~ * ~ * ~ * ~**  
  
Aeris slowly woke up and found herself in a clearing near a glistening lake. The landscape was beautiful with faint streams of green light drifting in the air, very unearthly like she was in another world. She then examined her body and realized the wounds from the explosion were all healed. She noticed a bright glow pulsing in the distance, standing up, and walked towards the center, where a huge tree like the Yggdrasil stood. In front of the tree was a young man with long, black hair, and he was dressed in a similiar outfit as Cloud. When he turned around to her, she stopped and gasped, seeing that he reminded her so much of Cloud.  
  
"Feeling better?" he asked warmly. She nodded and noticed he averted his eyes else where, sort of sad. When he looked at her again, he smiled, "Don't worry, you'll be leaving soon. Those whose destiny is not over yet don't stay here long."  
  
"What do you mean? Where am I, and who are you?" she asked.  
  
"My name is Zack. And this place," he walked over to the lake, "is the Lifestream."  
  
"Lifestream?" she repeated, following to the edge.  
  
"Yes, all life throughout the Universe converge here."  
  
"I see..." Although it was still unclear to her about the Lifestream, she didn't have time to bother with that when the safety of her friends came first. "Zack, do you know where my friends are?"  
  
An image of the Highwind appeared on the water surface as Zack told her, "I can sense Cloud's key inside the ship."  
  
"Cloud's key?"  
  
"He always carries it around."  
  
"Oh! You mean that big sword, the Ultima Weapon was it?" He nodded, and she turned back to the image with a grave expression, "I have to help them. Zack, please take me to them."  
  
He nodded again, "But I won't be able to be with you when you face Hojo."  
  
"I understand..."  
  
Then he quickly added with a smile, "How 'bout a date first?!" Aeris sweatdropped.  
  
**~ * ~ * ~ * ~**  
  
On the mirror side, Reno was still complaing about how unfair it was that they were trapped there and Sephiroth was having all the action and fun. Cid and Cloud were about to gnaw on themselves to relieve their heads of the TURKS officer's insane ramblings, but after a while, he finally shut up, plopping down on the ground, "So what CAN we do on this side? You designed the Highwind, there has to be a way."  
  
Cid sighed, "I designed the Highwind, but I didn't create the two planes."  
  
"So Hojo devised this subspace," Cloud reasoned, "which means the way to get out of here is for Hojo to free us?"  
  
"And he ain't gonna do that willingly."  
  
"That f**kin' asshole has to die then?" Reno growled.  
  
Cid smirked, "Probably."  
  
"Great, we're depending on Sephiroth," he said sarcastically.  
  
"But hey, we can watch the show from here." Cid made the screen larger than before and stuck a bag of popcorn into the microwave, "It'll be a good fight. My bets are on Sephiroth... Hojo's ass'll get whipped within fifteen minutes."  
  
"Haa, not that soon. I'll give him at least half an hour."  
  
"C'mon, guys," Cloud groaned, "Sephiroth's better than that. I give him ten minutes!"  
  
**~ * ~ * ~ * ~**  
  
Okay, back to the real side of the ship... where the battle was not going well for Sephiroth and Rufus, only because Hojo, after crying his heart out in the restroom, came back with a gigantic Gundam-ish robot thingie that he was piloting. [SD-K-chan: Heero-kun's gonna kill Hojo for taking his Wing Zero... so let's celebrate!] The two men had been trying to coordinate their attacks without any success. The thing was just too big to take it all out, and their energies were already weakening.  
  
Rufus casted a barrier spell that confined the robot within its hold while Sephiroth summoned a large pillar to fall on it, but the robot managed to emerge unscathed from the combined attack, smashing the stone pillar like it was a soccer ball into Sephiroth. It hit the wall, but Sephiroth was able to faze through the the meteor before he was a dead pancake. [SD-K-chan blinks: But how can pancakes be dead when they're not living??]  
  
While Hojo was distracted, Rufus sent a fireball directly at the chest, where the cockpit was, but the spell didn't do any damage to it. Hojo then shot out an energy bolt at the prince that knocked him to the floor. Sephiroth reappeared above the robot and plummeted downward with the Masamune ready to slice through the Gundanium metal, but he wasn't quick enough for the robot, whose arm swung and smacked him to the wall (again) like the annoying mosquito that he was to Hojo.  
  
**~ * ~ * ~ * ~**  
  
Cid and the others had been munching on popcorn as they watched the intense battle unfold on the humongous screen before them. Cloud silently wondered why Sephiroth wasn't fighting at his fullest since he had seen the ex-Space SOLDIER in action before, and then it hit him as he watched Sephiroth rescue Rufus from the energy beams of the robot. If Sephiroth used his full power, Rufus would die from the result. "Hey, Cid," he called, "Can you teleport anyone to the mirror side?"  
  
"Huh? Yeah, sure. Why?"  
  
"I want you to bring Rufus here. He's only in Sephiroth's way."  
  
"Yeah, I kinda noticed that. All right, anything to kill Hojo." He pulled the TURKS device from his pocket that he had picked up earlier and pressed a few buttons to activate the process. Reno watched amazed at what the annoying item could do as a weak Rufus appeared on the mirror side of the airship.  
  
Hojo's fuming face popped up on the screen and yelled, "HIGHWIND, YOU IDIOT!! WHY DID YOU GO AND DO THAT?!! NOW I CAN'T CRUSH BOTH OF THEM IN MY HANDS!!! YOU EVIL MEANIE!!"  
  
Reno threw his bowl of popcorn at the screen, "You can't even f**kin' kill 'em with that s**tty robot! How in hell do you expect to even kill them with your OWN hands?!"  
  
"SHADDUP!! YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO BE A VILLAIN AND STAY ALIVE WHILE KEEPING THE STORY GOING THIS LONG?!!! HMMM??!! EVERYONE'S SO UNGRATEFUL!!! JUST FORGET IT!!"  
  
"Someone give me some aspirin," Rufus groaned from his weariness of the fight and now Hojo's yelling, and Cid handed him the super-size bottle. "Thanks."  
  
**~ * ~ * ~ * ~**  
  
Before Sephiroth could summon the ultimate spell at his disposal, he suddenly froze in his spot but struggled hard to break free of the invisible hold on him. He was Hojo's son but had always been more of a laboratory experiment more than anything else, and so being controlled once again came to as no surprise... but for Aeris, he would try his best... If only, if only he was stronger... If only his reason to kill Hojo wasn't to avenge Aeris's death... but to protect her, then it would mean more...  
  
"You have tasted my power before," Hojo warned, "Unless someone tells me the secret of the Cetras, then I will destroy the Planet as part of an experiment." Being the villain that he was, Hojo didn't give them much time to answer. He fired upon the Planet anyway.  
  
**~ * ~ * ~ * ~**  
  
Rufus and Cloud started to panick since Aeris's family were still down there, and they watched helplessly as the beam soared to the Planet... but it never even came close to it as some sort of barrier absorbed the column of energy. Then the Highwind was attacked by several energy beams by an unseen enemy despite the heavy defenses Hojo had established. Eventually the attacker revealed itself as a a vessel, which was shielded by the six Ancient Fairy Wings. Rufus immediately gaped at the oncoming airship because he knew its identity, truly different from the Yggdrasil and even more powerful.  
  
"The Ragnarok..."  
  
**~ * ~ * ~ * ~**  
  
Hojo's eyes seemed to twinkle at seeing the powerful Ancient Fairy Wings, and he drooled at craving for that power, like he did a steak sandwich. He had to snap out of it because the Highwind was no match for the Cetrans' legendary airship. He tried to squeezed Sephiroth to death, but the robot's arm was suddenly slashed off.  
  
He gasped and looked in the direction of the attacker, seeing Aeris who was dressed in traditional Cetran battle gear that appeared to be similiar to a kimono of white, red and pink. Hojo then smiled a creepy yet amused smile at seeing the girl with again. He was even more delighted when she propped the Royal Guard with the three powerful materias in the center of the room and stepped back with her hands clasped together and her eyes closed.  
  
"Kuku, I see you give it to me willingly," Hojo chuckled as the one-armed robot loomed over her tiny frame. "Very well, I shall grant everyone a quick and painless death."   
  
"AERIS!" the guys shouted. A weak Sephiroth pleaded to her, "Aeris, escape from here... Run!"  
  
She opened her eyes and stared at him gently, "It'll be okay, Sephy... This time, I won't let you down. I'll protect everyone." With great determination, her whole body radiated with a bright light of immense energy. It was a familiar energy that Hojo felt before... was it the same one from the Ragnarok?! It was the same energy that generated the Ancient Fairy Wings, the power of the Cetras that Hojo had sought after and also feared.  
  
"AAAAAAAAAHH!! I'LL STOP YOU!! I'LL KILL YOU!! MY SCIENTIC GENIUS AGAINST THE CETRAS' LEGENDARY POWER!! WE'LL SEE WHO WINS!!" Hojo shot out everything he had from his robot right at Aeris, whose illumination began to expand and clashed against Hojo's artificial energy in a blinding light.  
  
Everyone shielded their eyes from the brightness, also wondering what the results of the intense fight what, and when the light faded away, nothing of the robot nor Hojo was left. The pure Cetran energy of the Aeris's generated mini-Ancient Fairy Wings had completely disintegrated the madman and his inventions.  
  
**~ * ~ * ~ * ~**  
  
With the death of Hojo, everyone that was on the mirror side was now able to return to the real one, and both Rufus and Reno gazed at Aeris with great respect and admiration. They started running towards her, BUT Sephiroth tripped them on purpose, telling them, "I will be the one to give her a kiss."  
  
Rufus and Reno fumed from their positions on the floor while Sephiroth turned around and nearly facefaulted at the sight of a smiling Aeris petting Red-Ohki (in his feline form, duh). He marched up to them and pulled his feline companion aside and admonished him, "Being long time friends, you should know better..."  
  
Red-Ohki, in his usual calm tone, asked, "Know better about what?"  
  
Sephiroth sweatdropped and then decided to leave it at that, but when he turned around to Aeris again, there was Cid, chatting away with Aeris, "Cid Highwind at your service, Miss Aeris. I would've loved to kick Hojo's ass to oblivion, but all the same, thanks for doing me that big favor. If there's anything you need, don't hesitate to ask!"  
  
Aeris bowed, "No, it was nothing. I'm glad I was able to help, although..." She looked up, but Cid was already pulled aside by Sephiroth. She couldn't hear what they were talking about either.  
  
"So what is it?" Cid questioned, rather annoyed too that Sephiroth just destroyed his positive mood.  
  
"Stay away from Aeris," Sephiroth warned.  
  
"Oh? She's your girlfriend or something?" he grinned.  
  
"Just don't get any ideas," came his finally warning. He then heard Cloud's loud cry and turned in that direction to see a happy, teary-eyed Cloud embracing Aeris, and the others were around her too, praising her victorious feat and glad that she was alive and with them again.  
  
Sephiroth stood in his spot, boiling silently with anger and jealous, but at that moment, the Highwind began to crack. "Oh s**t," Cid exclaimed, "Aeris's huge energy must've overloaded the ship." Everyone began to panick, but they were able to escape on Red-Ohki before the Highwind exploded.  
  
**~ * ~ * ~ * ~**  
  
The next day at the Gainsborough residence, a mailman dropped off some mail by inserting them into a slot in a wooden post. The two gateposts turned around, revealing themselves to be Tifa and Yuffie who have accepted their new duties as gateposts for the Gainsborough family. "Hey, thanks for the mail!" Yuffie chirped, scaring the delights out of the man, who ran off screaming.  
  
"Geeze, way to go, Yuf," Tifa snorted.  
  
"Hey! I didn't zap him at all!"  
  
"But you TALKED!"  
  
"Well, hasn't he seen a talking wood block before?!"  
  
"You're hopeless!"  
  
"You should talk!"  
  
They continued to bicker, even admist the loud explosions in the background followed by Rufus, Reno and Sephiroth arguing and fighting while everyone was trying to calm them down. And this was the beginning of the usual routing in the Gainsborough household... get used to it.  
  
  
  
**MAYBE NEXT TIME... Episode Seven... SPECIAL... A Kiss Before the Carnival!**  
  
  
** ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~**  
  
Sorrie, everyone, for very long wait for the conclusion to the Hojo storyline. I'm hoping it won't end here, ya know, since the _Tenchi Muyo OAV_ s had what, 14 episodes total, right? Anyway, I think I lost my touch on this one... It's not as funnie as the previous episodes... I think 'cause it was getting serious at some point, and I tried to salvage it with unnecessary humor... I kinda rushed through the end there... *sigh* Oh well, but I'd like to dedicate this episode to SailorLeo-chan! I know she, and like a few others, have been waiting forever for this episode! Once again, sorrie! Hope ya enjoyed it! *bow*  
  



End file.
